NIPC Law

The Rolls Building , L ocation of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Author Muhammad Karns, Judicial Office X feed Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (HH Judge Hacon)  Edozo Ltd v Valos (UK) Ltd [2026] EWHC 93 (IPEC) (21 Jan 2026) This was an application by the claimant to strike out parts of the defendant's defence and counterclaim. The claimant had brought proceedings for a declaration of non-infringement of copyright, while the defendant counterclaimed for relief from infringement.     The claimant's application came before His Honour Judge Hacon on 15 Jan 2026.  By para [61] of his judgment in  Edozo Ltd v Valos (UK) Ltd [2026] EWHC 93 (IPEC) (21 Jan 2026), His Honour acceded to the application. The Parties The claimant was Edozo Ltd ( "Edozo" ) and the defendant was Valos (UK) Ltd . (" Valos ").  The judge described Edozo and Valos as "competitors in a market which...

Author Dfrg.msc   Public Domain Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Patents are intended to promote innovation but occasionally they work against the public interest.  For instance, the term of a pharmaceutical patent that is about to expire may effectively be prolonged by a patent for a new dosing regime or a second medical use.  Sometimes the patents for such inventions may be revoked  or a  declaration of non-infringement  may be granted  A company that wants to launch a competing product will often bring revocation or non-infringement proceedings to clear the way for the launch. However, s.69 (2) of the Patents Act 1977 makes clear that such proceedings can be brought only after a patent has been granted.   There is a risk in launching a new product while a patent application is being considered because  s.69 (1).  allows a claim for damages to be backdated to the publication of the application.   That can b...