Patents

Welcome to the home of Patents on Law-Now.

IP is key to obtaining a competitive advantage for any business. Here, you will find patent related articles written by the CMS patent team.

The articles draw upon our experience of advising some of the world’s most significant technology and life science companies for whom strong IP, and a clear IP strategy, is essential. Lawyers from the full service IP team deliver Law-Now commentary and analysis and you can read about UPC, issues around patent drafting and prosecutions, SPC applications, oppositions and appeals before the European Patent Office, and strategic management considerations.

Recent Articles

  •  
    08.06.2023
    Asia-Pacific

    APAC IP Up­date – Spring/Sum­mer 2023

    ChinaChina releases Work Plan for Systematically Addressing Malicious Trade mark Registrations to Promote High-quality Development (2023-2025)On 20 April 2023, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the Work Plan for Systematically Addressing Malicious Trade mark Registrations to Promote High-quality Development (2023-2025) (the Work Plan). The main objective of the Work Plan is to make significant progress in the management of malicious trade mark registrations by 2025 and further improve the management system and policies related to malicious trade mark registrations....
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  •  
    31.05.2023
    Europe

    UPC – the “Long-arm” jur­is­dic­tion

    UPC Long-arm jurisdictionWith the UPC set to open its doors on 1 June 2023, just how far might its reach extend?Unless a European patent has been opted out of the UPC, the national courts and the UPC will share jurisdiction for patent infringement and revocation actions during the transitional period (Article 83(1) Unified Patent Court Agreement (“UPCA”).  However, as part of the revision of the Brussels Recast Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 542/2014) to accommodate the UPC, new provision Article 71b(2) was introduced which, some...
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  •  
    25.05.2023
    Switzerland

    Pat­ent law in Switzer­land: Are nu­mer­ic ranges ex­cluded from the doc­trine of equi­val­ence

    DE
    When are patent claims with numbers or measurements infringed? Can competitors be held liable for patent infringement if their product has characteristics outside the claimed range? The Swiss Federal Patent Court addressed these questions in two judgments, but to the opposite effect. First, in preliminary injunction proceedings, the court found infringement by equivalent means for a tablet with an amount of the active ingredient that was outside the claimed range. In the main proceedings, however, the court came to the opposite result and denied a patent infringement.How could this happen?The dispute...
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  •  
    05.05.2023
    England and Wales

    Ser­i­ous ir­reg­u­lar­ity: Eng­lish High Court re­af­firms high bar for chal­len­ging an ar­bit­ral award

    The English High Court has considered the scope of challenges to awards for serious irregularity on the ground that the arbitral tribunal failed in its duty to act fairly. The Court held that there was no serious irregularity where an arbitral tribunal made an award based on an issue in respect of which certain evidence had been ruled inadmissible. The Court also confirmed that a contention that an arbitral tribunal has failed to have regard to evidence relied on by a party does not constitute a serious irregularity.The judgment in Cipla Limited v Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc [2023] EWHC 910 (Comm)...
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  •  
    27.04.2023
    Asia-Pacific

    Top IP de­vel­op­ments and pre­dic­tions across Asia-Pa­cific

    We look back at the top developments over the last 12 months in Intellectual Property (IP) and we look to the future by offering our top predictions for the coming year for businesses operating across the Asia-Pacific with an emphasis on mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore.Over the last year, we have seen the continuous and rapid development of IP systems in APAC jurisdictions, including the establishment of the patent linkage system in China and the gazetting of the Hong Kong Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2022. Over the coming year, we expect further development in IP and more attention...
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  •  
    06.04.2023
    Europe

    G1/22 and G2/22 – Pre­lim­in­ary opin­ion of the En­larged Board of Ap­peal

    On 21 March 2023 the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) issued a preliminary opinion in consolidated cases G1/22 and G2/22 (“priority”), which provides some initial insight into the possible outcome of the referrals. Here, we provide a brief overview of the EBA’s communication.The referralIn T 1513/17 the proprietor appealed the decision of the opposition division revoking European patent 1755674. The priority claimed by the applicant was deemed not valid. Due to the requirement to list the inventors as applicants in the USA at the time of filing, the applicants named in the priority...
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