Annual Report 2012

The Annual Report 2012 has been published by the FPC on 11 March 2013. It is available online in German, French and Italian language. Some key aspects are summarized below.

1.   GENERAL REMARKS

It is essential for the set-up of the FPC that all non-permanent judges gain hands-on experience, the sooner the better. Indeed, all non-permanent judges with a background in law were involved in at least one case in 2012. On the other hand, only 18 out of 25 non-permanent judges with a technical background were involved in at least one case in 2012 (for reasons of language and technical fields).

As expected, German was by far the most frequently used language of the proceedings, i.e. in more than 90% of the cases. Less than 10% of cases were conducted in French; Italian was not used at all. In one single case, the parties to the proceedings chose English as the language of the proceedings.

2.   ORDINARY PROCEEDINGS

Below is an overview of all ordinary proceedings dealt with by the FPC during 2012, grouped by issues at stake. Moreover, cases received from cantonal courts and cases directly received by the FPC are separately given.

[table tablesorter=”0″]

Issue at stake,Cantonal~~referral,Received~~directly,Finished~~2012,Pending~~2013

Infringement~~(no nullity counterclaim),11,7,6~~     Decision(s): -~~     Settled: 4~~     Not considered: 2~~     Groundless: -,12

Nullity~~(no infringement counterclaim),12,1,6~~     Decision(s): -~~     Settled: 5~~     Not considered: -~~     Groundless: 1,7

Infringement and nullity,2,1,1~~     Decision(s): -~~     Settled: 1~~     Not considered: -~~     Groundless: -,2

Entitlement,4,-,3~~     Decision(s): 1~~     Settled: 1~~     Not considered: 1~~     Groundless: -,1

Monetary claim,1,2,,3

Other,2,-,1~~     Decision(s): -~~     Settled: -~~     Not considered: 1~~     Groundless: -,1

Total,32,11,17,26

[/table]
The total amount of 43 ordinary proceedings during 2012 is well within the range that was expected beforehand. However, more cases than expected were received from cantonal courts (32, including some elderly cases initiated more than 9 years ago), and less than expected were received directly (11).

Noteworthy, by far the most ordinary proceedings have been concluded by settlement (65%). The 17 cases that have been finished in 2012 in ordinary proceedings have been concluded as follows:

 

14 out of 17 cases concluded in 2012 in ordinary proceedings were dealt with by the President alone. One case was decided by a panel of three judges, and two cases were decided by a panel of 5 judges.

A preparatory hearing was conducted in 4 of the 17 cases. A main hearing was held in only one case.

Below is an overview of the IP rights concerned in ordinary proceedings. Expectedly, much more European patents / SPCs (36) were at stake than Swiss patents / SPCs (3). This correlates pretty well with the overall ratio Swiss and European patents currently in force in Switzerland (cf. Annual Report 2011/12 of the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property):

* Note that some of the cases concerned both European and Swiss patents.

 3.   SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS

Below is an overview of all summary proceedings dealt with by the FPC during 2012, grouped by issues at stake. Cases received from cantonal courts and cases directly received by the FPC are separately given.

[table tablesorter=”0″]

Issue at stake,Cantonal~~referral,Received~~directly,Finished~~2012,Pending~~2013

Injunctive relief / protection,4,4,8~~     Decision(s): 3~~     Settled: 5~~     Not considered: -~~     Groundless: -,-

Description,1,1,2~~     Decision(s): 2~~     Settled: -~~     Not considered: -~~     Groundless: -,-

Confiscation,-,-,-,-

Preservation of evidence,-,1,1~~     Decision(s): 1~~     Settled: -~~     Not considered: -~~     Groundless: -,-

Other,-,-,-,-

Total,5,6,11,

[/table]
The total amount of 11 summary proceedings during 2012 is well within the range that was expected beforehand. However, similar to the situation with ordinary proceedings, more cases than expected were received from cantonal courts (5), and less than expected were received directly (6).

Conclusions of cases in summary proceedings were pretty much equally distributed between settlements and decisions:

 

Contrary to the situation in ordinary proceedings (cf. above), only 3 out of 11 cases concluded during 2012 in summary proceedings were dealt with by the President alone. The remainder of eight cases was decided by a panel of three judges.

A hearing was conducted in 3 of the 11 cases.

Below is an overview of the IP rights concerned in ordinary proceedings. Expectedly, much more European patents / SPCs (9) were at stake than Swiss patents / SPCs (3):

* Note that some of the cases concerned both European and Swiss patents.

 4.   PRE-EMPTIVE BRIEFS

Apparently, pre-emptive briefs are frequently used (cf. also a separate post in this respect)

[table tablesorter=”0″]

Type,Cantonal~~referral,Received~~directly,Lapsed~~2012,Pending~~2013

Concerning Swiss patent(s)~~(incl. SPCs),-,3,2,1

Concerning European patent(s)~~(incl. SPCs),2,28,14,16

Total,2,31,16,17

[/table]
Again, much more European patents / SPCs (30) were at stake than Swiss patents / SPCs (3).

Reported by Martin WILMING

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3 Replies to “Annual Report 2012”

  1. Beyond statistics and in addition to the detailed review of each decision of the FPC in this Blog, it is also recommended to have a look at this review of the case law of the FPC 2012, available via EPLAW Patent Blog.

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