Patents: The Janger Ltd v Tesco Plc
Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (Mr Douglas Campbell QC) The Janger Ltd v Tesco Plc [2020] EWHC 3450 (IPEC) (16 Dec 2020 ) This was a patent infringement claim. The Janger Ltd, , ("Janger") sued Tesco Plc ("Tesco") for patent infringement. The patent in suit was for a hangable garden hook which was granted under number GB2552562B , Janger accused Tesco of infringing claims 1, 4 and 5 by using, keeping, offering to dispose of and disposing of certain hangers known as the Meetic hangers. Tesco admitted that those hangers infringed claims 1, 4 and 5 but contended that those claims were invalid for want of novelty and inventive step. The action came on for trial before Mr Recorder Campbell QC sitting as a judge of the High Court on 3 and 4 Nov 2020. By his judgment of 16 Dec 2020, the learned recorder found that claim 1 had been anticipated and claims 4 and 5 were obvious. The Basics A patent is a monopoly of a new invention that can...