Patent decision

BL number
O/403/15
Concerning rights in
GB 2494073
Hearing Officer
Mr J Elbro
Decision date
25 August 2015
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Robert Wilson and Enviromax Ltd
Provisions discussed
Patents Act 1977 Sections 7, 31
Keywords
Entitlement
Related Decisions
None

Summary

This case related to an additive for central heating systems invented by the pursuer. As the parties were located in Scotland and all the relevant activities took place in Scotland, the case was governed by Scottish law.

The pursuer had gone into business with a Mr Gerry Deeney, now deceased, and the defendant had been set up to commercialise the product embodying the patented invention. The pursuer conceded that he had agreed to the patent application being filed in the defender’s name, but claimed that this had only been for the purposes of securing a particular sale of the product, and that expected the application to be subsequently abandoned.

The hearing officer held that there was no written assignment of the right to the patent to the defender. However, he also considered that were issues with the pursuers evidence, in particular assertions made on his behalf that he knew to be untrue, which cast doubt on his version of events. The hearing officer held that the pursuer was prevented by the doctrine of personal bar from contesting the defender’s equitable rights to the patent, and so declined to transfer the patent to the pursuer.

Full decision O/403/15 PDF document104Kb