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Last year, the European Patent Office granted 96,000 patents, more than ever before. With 7,293 Patent Applications, Switzerland ranks fifth in an international comparison. However, Switzerland remains in first place in terms of the number of Applications per inhabitant. Filings of Patent Applications per inhabitant in Switzerland are around seven times higher than the average […]

Non-disclosure agreements are concluded in order to be able to discuss an innovation with partners, suppliers, producers, etc. before a possible Patent Application is filed. Anyone who waives a non-disclosure agreement risks the information being used to oppose a later Patent Application – unless they can invoke an implicit non-disclosure agreement. However, the Federal Supreme

With an application for a temporary injunction, the patent holder can obtain an immediate prohibition of a patent infringement. The court will only grant such an application if the patent proprietor is more likely than not to prevail on the merits. Recently, the US Federal Court CAFC had to decide whether a preliminary injunction can

The EU trademark is a uniform protection title for the entire territory of the EU. On the one hand, it must fulfill the protection requirements as a whole. In particular, it must be protectable in every relevant language area of the EU. On the other hand, it is infringed or not infringed as a whole.

In a patent infringement action, the patent proprietor regularly applies for an order prohibiting the infringer from committing unlawful acts. In the past, German courts have granted such requests without further ado and with immediate effect if the infringement has been confirmed. In its recent “Wärmetauscher” ruling, the BGH addressed the question of whether the

Normally, only the party offering or supplying to the domestic market is liable for patent infringements in the patent-protected domestic market. However, there are situations in which an act taking place abroad has patent infringing effects on the domestic market. For example, under what conditions is a supplier based abroad liable to a car manufacturer

As I have already reported here (http://www.kellerpatent.ch/de/s/news/news-detail/article/japan-gueltigkeit-und-schutzbereich-von-erzeugnisanspruechen-mit-verfahrensschritten.html), the Japanese Supreme Court has ruled that product-by-process claims are unclear and therefore invalid if another product definition is possible. The Japan Patent Office has now amended its examination guidelines. It has provided examples of when such claims are admissible. This concerns the criteria for when a subject

A Trademarks serves to distinguish one’s own products from the products of competitors by means of an individual sign. If, on the other hand, a graphic or a combination of words is only there to appeal to the aesthetic sense of the buyer and to make the product more attractive, there is no use as

The principle that the application documents may be amended during the Examination Proceedings also applies in China. However, according to Art. 33 of the Chinese Patent Law, amendments may not go beyond the scope of the original description and claims. In a recent decision, the Supreme People’s Court opposed the strict practice of the Boards