Patent decision

BL number
O/208/14
Concerning rights in
US12/306505
Hearing Officer
Mr P Thorpe
Decision date
16 May 2014
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
University of Warwick v Dr Geoffrey Diamond
Provisions discussed
Patens Act Section 12, Patent Rules 74 and 82
Keywords
Entitlement
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The decision covers two preliminary issues that arose in an entitlement case. The first point is whether it is appropriate for Harrison Goddard Foote LLP (HGF), a firm of Patent Attorneys, to continue to represent one of the parties given an alleged conflict of interest. The second point is whether it is appropriate to deal with the first point by way of a telephone hearing rather than a hearing in person. The Hearing Officer, having regard to the overriding objective, concluded that a telephone hearing was appropriate. He also found no reason to interfere with the claimant’s choice of representative.

Full decision O/208/14 PDF document53Kb