Patent decision

BL number

O/092/17

Concerning rights in

GB2463079

Hearing Officer

Mr P Slater

Decision date

1 March 2017

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Carillion Construction Limited V Balfour Beatty Plc

Provisions discussed

Section 27

Keywords

Amendment, Novelty, Oppositions

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The patentee applied to amend the patent in the light of prior art it had become aware of post grant. The application was opposed on the basis that the proposed amended claims were not clear, added subject-matter, extended the scope of protection and lacked novelty and/or inventive step. The question of whether to refuse the patentee’s application to amend on the basis of failure to provide full disclosure was dismissed on the basis that the patentee’s behaviour in making an application under section 27 is no longer a relevant consideration. The hearing officer found that the proposed amended claims did not add subject-matter, they did not extended the scope of protection and that they were also clear in the light of the specification. However, the proposed claims were found to lack novelty with respect to the prior-art identified by the proprietor and so the application to amend was refuse for failure to effect a proper cure for the defect identified.

Full decision O/092/17 268Kb