NIPC Law

In Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd v. Rhone-Poulenc Rorer International Holdings Inc and Others   [2007] Bus LR 1796, [2007] BusLR 1796, [2008] 1 All ER 425, [2007] UKHL 43 Lord Hoffmann described s.7 (2) and (3) of the Patents Act 1977  as "an exhaustive code for determining who is entitled to the grant of a patent." For determining entitlement to the grant maybe because s.32 (3) of the Act provides that "Notwithstanding anything in subsection (2)(b) above, no notice of any trust, whether express, implied or constructive, shall be entered in the register and the comptroller shall not be affected by any such notice."  But not necessarily to ownership because s.30 (1) states that patents and patent applications are personal property and sub-section (3) adds that they may vest by operation of law in the same way as any other personal property. `Disputes over equitable interests in patents or patent applications are fairly rare but they can arose in cir...

I have had this conversation several times since Mr. Justice Newey handed down his judgment in   Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp and Others v Harris and others [2013] EWHC 159 (Ch) (5 Feb 2013). As this is only an interim injunction application in an action that is still to be tried and as this judgment may be appealed it would not be right to for me to analyse it in a way that I would a case in which I had not been briefed..   However, as this was quite an unusual case. the judgment does need to be interpreted if it is to be understood.   So here are some FAQ style questions and answers. So what was this case all about? This was an application by members of the Motion Picture Association of America Inc , the trade association of the second largest film industry .in the world , for a proprietary injunction to restrain a Mr. David Harris and a number of companies with which he is connected from dealing with, or disposing of, a McLaren ...