Posts

The Trial - WaterRower v Liking

Image
  Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Cour t (Mr Campbell Forsyth) WaterRower (UK) Ltd v Liking Ltd. [2024] EWHC 2806 (IPEC) At the case management conference in WaterRower (UK) Ltd v Liking Ltd (T/A Topiom) [2022] EWHC 2084 (IPEC) (5 Aug 2022), Liking Ltd ("Liking") applied unsuccessfully to strike out or obtain summary judgment in, a claim against it by WaterRower (UK) Ltd.  ("WaterRower") for infringement of copyright in several of its water resistance rowing machines ("the Works"). WaterRower had alleged that the Works were "works of artistic craftsmanship" within the meaning of s. 4 (1) (c) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ("CDPA").  Mr David Stone, who heard the application, said: "I have found that the Claimant’s case that the WaterRower is a work of artistic craftsmanship is not 'bound to fail'. I have not reached a concluded view that the WaterRower is a work of artistic craftsmanship -

Departing Directors - Cheshire Estate & Legal Ltd v Blanchfield and others

Image
Manchester Civil Justice Centre Author Skip88  Licence Public Domain Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Court of Appeal (Lords Justices Lewison, Phillips and Snowdon) Cheshire Estate & Legal Ltd. v Blanchfield and others [2024] EWCA Civ 1317 (5 Nov 2024) This was an appeal from the judgment of His Honour Judge Bever sitting in Manchester as a judge of the High Court. The learned judge had dismissed with costs a claim by Cheshire Estate & Legal Ltd. ("Cheshire Estate") against two of its former directors and the company that they were setting up for conspiracy and breach of fiduciary, contractual and confidential duties. The Alleged Wrongdoing The defendants were accused of taking preliminary steps to set up a competing enterprise before they had resigned as Cheshire Estate's directors. Those steps included registering the trading name of the new business, incorporating the company as the corporate vehicle for their venture, appointing themselves as directors

Copyright - Equisafety Ltd v Woof Wear Ltd

Image
Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court ( Ian Karet)   Equisafety Ltd v Woof Wear Ltd [2024] EWHC 2478 (IPEC) (25 Sept 2024) This was an action by the Wirral-based company Equisafety Ltd ("Equisafety") for infringement of copyright in three high-visibility ("high vis") equestrian products. These were a waistcoat, an elasticated hat band, and a neckband for a horse some of which are shown in the above photos. The defendant, Woof Wear Ltd ("Woof Wear"), had exhibited similar goods at the Beta International Exhibition .  Woof Wear admitted that if copyright subsisted in those items and if the claimant company owned those copyrights then it would have infringed those rights.   Consequently, the issues to be tried were whether copyright subsisted in those high-vis items and, if it did, whether Equisafety owned those copyrights. The Preliminary Hearing At a hearing before Ms Pat Treacy on or about 24 Jan 2024, Equisafety was ordered to identify the

Practice - Bayer IP v Aspire Pharma

Image
Jane Lambert Patents Court (HH Judge Hacon) Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH and others v Aspire Pharma Ltd and others [2024] EWHC 711 (Pat) (27 March 2024) Rivaroxaban  is an anticoagulant medication used to treat and prevent blood clots, particularly deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary emboli and atrial fibrillation after hip or knee surgery.  Until the hearing of this application Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH, its holding and associated companies enjoyed a monopoly of the market for rivaroxaban in the UK, That was because Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH held a patent for the product as a compound which was extended until 1 April 2024 by a supplementary protection certificate. Aspire Pharma Ltd.  was one of several pharmaceutical companies that hoped to supply generic rivaroxaban upon the expiry of the SPC.  However, Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH also held European patent number 1 845 961 B1 for the treatment of thromboembolic disorders with rivaroxaban  which covered the use o

FRAND - Panasonic Holdings Corporation v Xiaomi Technology UK Ltd.

Image
Author  Basher Eyre #   Lixnxw  CC BY-SA 2. 0 Jane Lambert Court of Appeal (Lords Justices Moylan, Arnold and Phillips)  Panasonic Holdings Corporation v Xiaomi Technology UK Ltd and others [2024] EWCA Civ 1143 (3 Oct 2024) On 31 July 2023, Panasonic Holdings Corporation ("Panasonic") issued proceedings against Xiaomi Technology UK Ltd., its holding and two associated companies (Xiaomi) for declarations that certain of its patents were essential to one or more ETSI telecommunications standards, that they had been infringed by Xiaomi, that the terms on which it was willing to license patents were fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory ("FRAND") or could become FRAND after some adjustments and injunctions against Xianomi if those companies rejected those terms.  On 8 Nov 2024 after a hearing before Mr Justice Meade his lordship ordered a 10 to 15-day trial to be listed in October 2024 limited to the determination of the terms of the court-determined licence and stay