No easy way out

Case No. O2017_025 ¦ Order of 15 March 2018 ¦ ‘Eintritt der Streitberufenen’

HEADNOTE

Art. 79(1) lit. b CPC

The notified party conducting the proceedings in place of the notifying party acts as representative of the notifying party.

This order clarifies some important aspects of third party notice and third party action. The general principles are set out in Art. 78 CPC: A party may notify a third party of the dispute if, in the event of being unsuccessful, he or she might take recourse against or be subject to recourse by a third party. The notified third party may also give notice of the dispute.

In practical terms, the notified third party may, according to Art. 79(2) CPC, either

  1. intervene in favour of the notifying principal party, without further conditions; or
  2. proceed in place of the notifying principal party, with the consent of the latter.

Now, what is the standing of the notified party in case of lit. b, above?

The FPC follows the practice of the High Court of Zurich (Obergericht; PP140001-O/U) and the Commercial Court of Bern (Handelsgericht; HG 15 12) in that there is no room for an arbitrary change of parties (gewillkürter Parteiwechsel) — even though the mere wording of Art. 79(2) CPC might suggest it. The order holds that this would be too much of an intervention into the procedural rights of the counterparty, and there is no indication whatsoever that the legislator indeed had intended it to be this way.

Game of Old Maid

Thus, the approach now also taken by the FPC effectively (only) relieves the notifying party of the burden of litigation, but clarifies that the legal effects of the judgment continue to apply to him. The notified party is therefore involved as such in the proceedings without the defendants 1 and 2 being released from the proceedings. The notified party only acts as the representative of defendants 1 and 2.

Accordingly, as is customary in the case of arbitrary representation, judicial correspondence will only be served to the notified party. Defendants 1 and 2 must have the actions and declarations of the notified party counted as their own.

In sum, Art. 79(2) CPC is anything but a comfortable ejection seat to easily get out of the danger zone.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. O2017_025 ¦ Order of 15 March 2018 ¦ ‘Eintritt der Streitberufenen’

A.

./.

B., C.
both represented by C.

EXCERPT OF THE ORDER

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Act quickly when it’s urgent

Case No. S2018_002 ¦ Decision of 5 April 2018 ¦ ‘Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme; fehlende besondere Dringlichkeit’

Note that Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of the defendant.

The plaintiffs requested ex parte interim injunctive relief, i.e. without hearing the defendant beforehand. In principle, this is possible in cases of special urgency; Art. 265 CPC. It goes without saying that a plaintiff should act quickly in a case of special urgency. But how quickly does one need to take action so that it is not considered (too) late? The present decision provides further guidance in this respect.

In cases of alleged urgency, the court examines whether the request has not obviously been delayed or could reasonably have been and should have been filed earlier. If this is the case, it is no longer justified to not hear the defendant beforehand. If a plaintiff waits considerably longer after a triggering event than the time limit that is typically set for the defendant to respond in summary proceedings, the case can hardly be assumed to be particularly urgent.

[B]eim Fall der zeitlichen Dringlichkeit ist weiter zu prüfen, ob das Gesuch nicht offensichtlich hinausgezögert worden ist respektive vernünftigerweise früher hätte gestellt werden können und müssen, mithin das Weglassen der Anhörung der Gegenseite nicht mehr gerechtfertigt ist. Die relevante Zeitskala bemisst sich dabei unter anderem an der Zeit, die typischerweise der Gegenseite zur Stellungnahme eingeräumt wird. Wartet die Gesuchstellerin ohne erkennbare Gründe mit der Einreichung des superprovisorischen Gesuchs nach einem auslösenden Ereignis deutlich länger zu, als der Gegenseite in einem Massnahmeverfahren zur Stellungnahme eingeräumt wird, kann schwerlich von besonderer Dringlichkeit im Sinne von Art. 265 ZPO ausgegangen werden, die ein Weglassen der Anhörung der Gegenseite rechtfertigt.

Plaintiffs argued that the defendant had already ample opportunity in prior / parallel proceedings to provide comments. Accordingly, new arguments were not to be reckoned with. The decision holds that this has nothing to do with the alleged urgency, and that there may well be new arguments since parallel proceedings are pending elsewhere.

Further, plaintiffs argued that the expected delay in co-pending nullity proceedings caused urgency of the present request for injunctive relief. However, the decision holds that the course of the parallel nullity proceedings is not out of the ordinary, and plaintiffs could have lodged a claim for infringement in main proceedings since more than a year ago – but did not do so.

time is running …

Note that the request for ex parte interim measures had been filed more than one month after the parties had been informed about availability of hearing dates in parallel nullity proceedings no earlier than end of August 2018, and the plaintiff indicated one of these dates as ‘suitable and preferred’ (‘geeignet und bevorzugt’). Only later, plaintiffs requested an earlier hearing date – which could not be arranged anymore.

Moreover, the present request was filed more than two months after receipt of the opinion of the judge-rapporteur. If this was considered as the triggering event (in view of a changed opinion of the judge-rapporteur), the request could and should have been filed much earlier.

Finally, plaintiffs noted that previous summary proceedings took about six months to conclude. A similar duration in the present proceedings would result in a decision only after the hearing date in parallel nullity proceedings. The decision holds that this, again, has nothing to do with the required urgency.

The request for ex parte interim injunctive relief was thus dismissed, and inter partes summary proceedings are now ongoing.

Reported by Martin WILMING


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2018_002 ¦ Decision of 5 April 2018 ¦ ‘Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme; fehlende besondere Dringlichkeit’

  1. A. AG
  2. B. AG

./.

C. AG

Judges:

  • Prof. Dr. Daniel KRAUS
  • Dr. Tobias BREMI
  • Prisca VON BALLMOOS

Judge-rapporteur:

  • Dr. Tobias BREMI

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

DECISION IN FULL

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Ex parte interim injunctive relief granted based on an SPC

Case No. S2017_006 ¦ Decision of 30 August 2017 ¦ “Gutheissung superprovisorische Massnahme”

The defendant in this matter had notified the SPC holder of the imminent launch of its generic product in Switzerland, before a decision in parallel nullity proceedings was available. The validity of the SPC had been challenged in parallel nullity proceedings based on the SPC case law of the CJEU and an accordingly to be revised Swiss practice.

The plaintiff sought for interim injunctive relief without hearing the defendant beforehand. Since the critical issue had not yet been decided in parallel nullity proceedings, interim injunctive relief has provisionally been granted. The defendant has been invited to file a response.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2017_006 ¦ Decision of 30 August 2017 ¦ “Gutheissung superprovisorische Massnahme”

Judge(s):

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

  • Dr. Michael RITSCHER (MLL)
  • Dr. Simon HOLZER (MLL)
  • Dr. Kilian SCHÄRLI (MLL)

Representative(s) of Defendant:

DECISION IN FULL

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It’s just not the right time …

Case No. O2016_012 ¦ Decision of 22 February 2017 (excerpt) ¦ “Rechtliches Gehör, unbedingtes Replikrecht, Prozessleitung, Waffengleichheit”

A previous version of this post mentioned Bruno MEYER as an assisting patent attorney on behalf of the defendant. I have been informed that this is wrong; he is actually engaged on behalf of the plaintiff. This has been corrected hereinbelow.

This procedural order is almost a blueprint of a published order in the case O2012_039; see this Blog here. Again, an alleged infringer argued for nullity as a plea in defense with his answer to the suit. Prior to the preparatory hearing, the plaintiff had been ordered and actually provided a reply only with respect to the alleged nullity, for the time being. So far so good.

But the defendant filed a factual rejoinder concerning the (in)validity of the patent in suit. This evidently frustrated the court’s intention to have one(!) reply of each party on file pertaining to the questions of infringement and nullity. Consequently, the FPC decided to not take the defendant’s submission on file at all, for the time being. The defendant may re-file the same after the preparatory hearing, with his rejoinder.

Die Prozessleitung ist Sache des Gerichts (Art. 124 Abs. 1 ZPO). Wenn die Beklagten hier nun ungefragt mit einer faktischen Duplik zur Bestandesfrage reagieren, wird das Bestreben des Gerichts, die Waffengleichheit der Parteien zu wahren, unterlaufen. Das ist zu unterbinden. Entsprechend ist die Eingabe der Beklagten (samt Beilagen) aus dem Recht zu weisen. Es steht den Beklagten frei, das Vorgebrachte (nach der Instruktionsverhandlung) im Rahmen der dann einzuholenden Duplik erneut vorzutragen.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. O2016_012 ¦ Decision of 22 February 2017 (excerpt) ¦ “Rechtliches Gehör, unbedingtes Replikrecht, Prozessleitung, Waffengleichheit”

A AG

./.

(1) B GmbH
(2) C GmbH

Composition of the Board of the FPC:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE
  • Dr. Tobias BREMI

Reporting Judge:

  • n/a

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

  • Dr. Michael RITSCHER (MLL)
  • Dr. Kilian SCHAERLI (MLL)

DECISION (EXCERPT)

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No more ‘shell games’: Register ban imposed ex-parte in an ownership dispute

Case No. S2017_003 ¦ Decision of 31 January 2017 ¦ “Mesures superprovisionnelles; interdiction de transfer, suspension IPI

The background of this case is a cooperation with an unhappy ending, at least concerning the resulting IP. The plaintiff (A) and one of the defendants (B) had signed a confidentiality agreement on 12 July 2015 for the purpose of a joint development. Two employees of A had then worked on this project and exchanged their respective results by Email. These results were then shared with B in working meetings later on, and a specific solution was sent to B by Email on 10 September 2015. B then filed a Swiss patent application on its own on 25 November 2015. That would be enough to blow most cooperations, but it even got worse: B informed A on 11 October 2016 that the patent application had been assigned to D. And on 29 November 2016, A was informed that the patent application had been assigned to C.

A was not amused and requested that a register ban be ordered ex parte to avoid withdrawal / abandonment and to suspend further prosecution; and that B, C and D be ordered to abstain from any actions towards this end. These requests were indeed granted inasmuch as the Swiss patent application is concerned. On the contrary, the request was held inadmissible with respect to related applications unspecifically referred to in the requests. Likewise, a request for a register ban at the EPO was held inadmissible; this has to be effected in accordance with Art. 61 and R. 14 EPC.

The decision (again) outlines the essential criteria to be dealt with in patent (application) ownership disputes:

  1. Who actually has invented the disputed technology?
  2. How has the plaintiff obtained the right to be granted a patent for this technology?
  3. How has the defendant / patent applicant been informed about this technology?
  4. How is the technology reflected in the patent application at stake?

The decision holds that these criteria have been met by prima facie evidence: The plaintiff (1.) had identified the inventors; (2.) how he obtained the right to be granted a patent (i.e. by virtue of Art. 332 CO as employer); (3.) how this information had been conveyed to B (see timeline above); and (4.) how this is reflected in the patent application under dispute: Apparently, Fig. 1 of the patent application reflects all the essential elements which also corresponds to the wording of claim 1.

The multiple assignments underlined the risk of a not easily reparable harm for the plaintiff. On the contrary, the defendants are not substantially harmed by the ex parte order. As to the urgency of the matter, the decision holds that the plaintiff had acted with sufficient diligence on 18 January 2017 after having been notified of the (second) assignment on 29 November 2016, i.e. seven weeks ago. Summary proceedings can still be concluded earlier than potential main proceedings which typically take one year.

On the other hand, the diligence required for the ex parte order is less clear to me. The FPC held in an earlier case that seven weeks (what a coincidence!) were too long for a plaintiff to wait — rather, one should act ‘within one or two weeks in any event’; see this Blog here. The devil may be in the (yet unknown) detail.

As to the technology concerned, the bone of contention is a latch for a watch band with a folding clasp which can carry a biometric insert.

[…] fermoir pour bracelet de montre comportant une boucle déployante permettant de loger un insert biometrique […]

The Swiss patent application at stake has been filed only less than 18 months ago (25 November 2015); it is not yet published. We will learn more on or shortly after 25 May 2017.

And the parties? According to publicly available information, there are not too many companies in Switzerland working on exactly this topic. Actually, I could only spot a single fit I feel confident enough to share: Biowatch SA. See their promotional video from 36s onwards (embedded from Youtube):

Biowatch’s Matthias Vanoni said in an interview with welt.de on 24 February 2016 that they were developing a new latch for a watch band with a special fitting for the biometric module together with a cooperation partner, i.e. Oréade SA:

https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article152603723/Das-Venenmuster-als-besserer-Fingerabdruck.html
Welt.de (24.02.2016)

The hearing scheduled for March 29, 2017 will provide further insight, and the Swiss patent application will be published end of May 2017. Stay tuned!

UPDATE March 6, 2017:

The hearing scheduled for March 29, 2017 has just been canceled.

UPDATE May 31, 2017:

The patent application at stake has been published today. It’s CH 711 847 A2, see Swissreg. Registered applicant expectedly is Oréade Manufacture de boîtes SA.

UPDATE Oct 2, 2017:

The matter has apparently been settled by compromise; see Matthias Vanoni’s comment in the comments section below.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2017_003 ¦ Decision of 31 January 2017 ¦ “Mesures superprovisionnelles; interdiction de transfer, suspension IPI”

n/a

./.

1. n/a
2. n/a
3. n/a

Composition of the Board of the FPC:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE
  • Frank SCHNYDER
  • Dr. Tobias BREMI

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

  • Florian DUCOMMUN (HDC)

Representative(s) of Defendant (1):

DECISION IN FULL

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PATENT APPLICATION IN SUIT

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No ex parte ‘shot from the hip’ in an assignment action

Case No. S2017_002 ¦ Decision of 18 January 2017 ¦ “Abweisung Massnahmebegehren; internationale Zuständigkeit, mangelnde Glaubhaftmachung, Anspruch und Gefährdung”

This decision provides very early insight into a litigation with an apparently rather complex setup. The plaintiff had initiated main proceedings on January 11, 2017, inter alia alleging co-ownership of two patent families currently held by the defendant. Only two days later, the plaintiff requested ex parte interim measures, i.e. that the defendant be ordered to preserve the status quo of the patent families in suit (with respect to ownership, licenses, etc.), and that a ban be noted in the Swiss patent register to prevent any changes to the Swiss part of the already granted European patent.

Allegedly, an employee of the Swiss plaintiff has largely contributed to the subject invention(s), in a joint development together with the CEO of the defendant (a company domiciled in Sweden). Two patent families are at stake, with an already granted European patent in the first family. EPO prosecution is still pending in the second family, while patents have already been granted in the U.S., Japan and Russia.

First, the President holds that the FPC only has territorial jurisdiction for the Swiss part of the European patent at stake; Art. 1(2) IPRA, Art. 31 LugC, Art. 10 lit. b IPRA. Note that the patentee / defendant is domiciled in Sweden! The request has thus not been considered at all as far as it concerned foreign patent rights.

What remains is the Swiss part of the already granted European patent. Swiss law is applicable in this respect; Art. 110(1) IPRA. In general terms, the requested injunction and the order to a register authority would be possible in accordance with Art. 262 lit. a and c CPC. However, the President held that the plaintiff failed to show the three necessary elements, i.e.

  1. that the employee of the plaintiff has contributed to or made this invention (what exactly, when, where and how);
  2. how the defendant has been made aware of this invention (or parts thereof); and
  3. how the subject-matter claimed by the defendant actually corresponds to this invention.

The plaintiff apparently did not discuss how the contribution of its employee is reflected in the claims; see item iii, above. Co-ownership was thus held to be not established for this reason alone.

Moreover, the President notes that the plaintiff failed to show an actual risk that any of the acts to be prohibited might materialize. The request also failed for this reason.

The routine exercise: Who are the parties?

Admittedly, that’s been a tricky puzzle this time. The decision is anonymized beyond recognition. Almost. We could spot a single perfect fit:

As to the first patent family, “WO 222” likely is WO 2011/042058 A1 and the European patent “EP 333” with 37 claims likely is EP 2 485 864 B1 (opposed by Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG); see EPO Register and Swissreg for further details.

The second patent family is based on “WO 555” — which likely is WO 2012/136262 A1. This family has granted patents in Japan (JP 5828953 B2), Russia (RU 2 594 921 C2) and the U.S. (US 9,469,338 B2); examination of EP 2 694 241 A1 is still pending; see EPO Register.

The sole inventor of both patent families is Magnus Norberg Ohlsson, CEO of Tomologic AB, a company domiciled in Sweden.

Bystronic Laser AG likely is the counterparty. It had introduced a new online service ByOptimizer in November 2014, explicitly referring to a

[…] newly developed cluster technology from the Swedish company Tomologic. The patented technology […].

The former product page is currently offline (checked on Feb 2, 2017).

It’s only an educated guess — but wouldn’t it be an incredible coincidence if the rivals were not Bystronic Laser AG and Tomologic AB? Let’s wait and see …

Reported by Ingo LUMMER and Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2017_002 ¦ Decision of 18 January 2017 ¦ “Abweisung Massnahmebegehren; internationale Zuständigkeit, mangelnde Glaubhaftmachung, Anspruch und Gefährdung”

n/a ./. n/a

Composition of the Board of the FPC:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

  • Dr. Simon HOLZER (MLL)
  • Esther BAUMGARTNER (MLL)
  • Martin TOLETI (Blum), assisting in patent matters

DECISION IN FULL

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More haste, less speed

Case No. S2017_001 ¦ Order of 16 January 2017¦ “Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme”

Note that Hepp Wenger Ryffel is involved in this matter on behalf of the defendant.

The patentee / plaintiff requested interim injunctive relief to be ordered without hearing the defendant beforehand, in view of special urgency. The FPC did not do so. In principle, the President could decide in the capacity of a judge sitting alone in summary proceedings (Art. 23(1) lit. b PatCA). But the present matter requires the assessment of patentability of the patent in suit; both parties are engaged in co-pending nullity proceedings at the FPC. In such cases, i.e. where the understanding of a technical matter is of particular significance, decisions must be made in a panel of three; see Art. 23(3) PatCA. It takes some time to staff the panel of judges from the pool of non-permanent judges who have to do a thorough check for conflicts. It would be unbalanced to not hear the defendant meanwhile since this will not delay the decision as such. The defendant has thus been ordered to file a response within only seven days. This short time was held appropriate since both parties are well acquainted with the subject-matter at stake from the co-pending nullity proceedings.

On the procedural side, there are two further aspects to note. First, the plaintiff had drafted its submission in English language, with reference to an agreement between the parties in this respect in co-pending nullity proceedings. The President held that this does not necessarily imply consent to the use of English language in the present proceedings — but provisionally and in the absence of an immediate information of the defendant to the contrary, consent will be assumed. Second, the President notes that a hearing on short notice might be necessary. A date will be fixed by way of precaution, as soon as the panel of judges is staffed.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. S2017_001 ¦ Order of 16 January 2017¦ “Abweisung superprovisorische Massnahme”

n/a ./. n/a

Composition of the Board of the FPC:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

DECISION IN FULL

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The wood, the trees and the separation of proceedings in O2016_003

Well, shame on me, I haven’t seen the wood for the trees: The procedural decision in the matter O2016_003 (reported here) obviously relates to the suit filed by Illumina and Verinata Health against Genoma; see this Blog here.

“EP 000” is  EP 0 994 963 B2. Opposition/appeal proceedings have been concluded with decision T 0146/07; see EPO Register for details.

“EP 111” is EP 1 981 995 B1. The hearing before the OD is scheduled for 18 November 2016; see EPO Register for details.

“EP 222” is EP 2 183 693 B1. The hearing before the OD is scheduled for 08 June 2016; see EPO Register for details. [UPDATE 29 July 2016: The OD has decided to maintain the patent in amended form on the basis of the first auxiliary request.]

“EP 333” is EP 2 514 842 B1 which has only been granted on 24 February 2016; see EPO Register for details.

Reported by Martin WILMING

Separation of proceedings in view of co-pending EPO proceedings

Case No. O2016_003 ¦ Order of 02 May 2016 ¦ “Prozessaufteilung”

Entities A and B (in a joinder of parties) have sued C for patent infringement. Four European patents are at stake (EP 000, EP 111, EP 222 and EP 333). A and B are exclusive licensees of the patents: Entity A is licensee of EP 000, EP 222 and EP 333; B is licensee of EP 111. The case has been separated in view of the different status of proceedings at the EPO (don’t be misled by the german term ‘Rechtsstand’ used in the decision; the formal status of all the patents is obviously granted): Opposition proceedings at the EPO have already been concluded for one of the patents (EP 000). For two other patents (EP 111 and EP 222), oral proceedings are scheduled for September and June 2016, respectively. The last patent in suit has only been granted in February 2016 and it is thus still open for opposition (EP 333).

line_spliting_50The FPC held that the case would be ready for decision at very different points of time, depending on the status of proceedings at the EPO. Thus, the FPC ordered the separation of the jointly filed action in order to simplify the proceedings; Art. 125 CPC, lit. b:

  • The suit based on EP 000 (plaintiff A) will be continued under case ID O2016_003;
  • The suit based on EP 111 (plaintiff B) will be separately continued under case ID O2016_004;
  • The suit based on EP 222 and EP 333 (plaintiff A) will be separately continued under case ID O2016_005.

Another issue at stake is the choice of the language to be used by the parties. The plaintiffs used the English language and have submitted a letter allegedly confirming the agreement of the defendant with the use of the English language. However, the letter was apparently not issued by the defendant itself but a parent company. This letter was thus not considered as a consent of the defendant in accordance with Art. 36(3) PatCA; such consent is still outstanding.

Reported by Martin WILMING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Case No. O2016_003 ¦ Order of 02 May 2016 ¦ “Prozessaufteilung”

A. (n/a)
B. (n/a)

./.

C. (n/a)

Board of Judges:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Reporting Judge:

  • n/a

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

  • n/a

FULL-TEXT

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Addendum to a pre-emptive brief

paper stack

Case No. D2015_035 ¦ Decision of 09 February 2016 ¦ “Schutzschrift, nachträgliche Eingaben”

As mentioned earlier on this Blog here, pre-emptive briefs are quite frequently used if one fears to be faced with a request for interim measures without hearing the defendant. The present decision for the first time clarifies what is allowable to be submitted as an addendum to a pre-emptive brief that is already on file. The President held that it is well admissible to bring proper and improper novae according to Art. 229 CPC to the attention of the FPC by way of an addendum. But that’s it. Beware: If the addendum covers more than proper or improper novae according to Art. 229 CPC, it will not be taken into consideration at all.

Nicht zulässig ist es hingegen, eine Schutzschrift mit weiteren Eingaben einfach nachzubessern, ohne dass zulässige Noven vorlägen. […] Dafür, dass sich die Richterin oder der Richter mit beliebigen Eingaben befasst, in denen irgendwelche Sachverhalte und Argumente portionenweise und womöglich widersprüchlich vorgebracht werden, ist kein Raum.

It is not admissible to simply overhaul a pre-emptive brief by means of subsequent filings, in the absence of admissible novae. […] It cannot be that the judge has to assess any old submissions in which facts and arguments are brought forward little by little and maybe even inconsistent.

In addition, the President held that an addendum which pertains to per se admissible facts is expected to fulfil the same criteria as a regular writ. That means that evidence which is readily available in support of the alleged facts is to be put on file. In particular, it is not sufficient to only refer to the URL of a website. Since websites are known to change over time, a screenshot of the website is to be put on file.

Reported by Martin WILMING

— FULLTEXT —

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Late surrender of the patent only after nullity suit was lodged: Costs clapped on the defendant

Case No. O2015_010 ¦ Decision of 05 January 2016 ¦ “Verzicht auf das Patent gemäss Art. 15 Abs. 1 lit. a PatG nachdem Patentnichtigkeitsklage rechtshängig ist; Gegenstandslosigkeit; Kosten- und Entschädigungsfolgen”

The patent in suit in this nullity case is CH 696 260 A5 of AstraZeneca. This Swiss patent is a member of the patent family of WO 01/51056 A1 since it claims the same priorities, but it is not a nationalization of the PCT application. Via the PCT route, there are also two European patents currently in force in Switzerland within the same patent family, i.e. EP 1 250 138 B2 (see EP Register and Swissreg) and EP 2 266 573 B1 (see EP Register and Swissreg).

Fulvestrant
Fulvestrant

CH’260 pertains to certain fulvestrant formulations. The corresponding product on the market is AstraZeneca’s Faslodex® (active ingredient: fulvestrant). Fulvestrant is an estrogen receptor antagonist indicated for the treatment of hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women with disease progression following antiestrogen therapy. It has been approved by Swissmedic on 19 March 2004.

Sales figures (worldwide) are still on the rise (according to AZ’s Annual Report 2014; see p. 143):

2012 2013 2014 2015
USD 654m USD 681m USD 720m not yet published

This nullity suit against CH 696 260 A5 was filed on 18 August 2015. With his answer the patentee / defendant submitted that he had surrendered the patent by written declaration to the patent office according to Art. 15 PatA. Lapse of the patent has been published on 04 November 2015, with ex tunc effect; see Swissreg.

Well, no patent, no proceedings anymore; the case is to be dismissed as groundless (Art. 242 CPC). But somebody has to bear the costs. Note that it is at the discretion of the court to allocate the costs when the case has become groundless; Art. 107(1) lit. e CPC.

The defendant / patentee requested that costs should be borne by the plaintiff. It was argued that a mere letter requesting the surrender of the patent would have been sufficient and could have avoided the costly and unexpected proceedings. In view of the two aforementioned European patents in force in Switzerland it would have been readily apparent hat there was no actual interest anymore in the Swiss patent. The plaintiff argued that the proceedings were not at all unexpected. The plaintiff had already asked the defendant in March 2015 whether he would agree to conduct the proceedings in English. Consequently, the FPC held that the defendant / patentee knowingly took the risk of the nullity proceedings.

Court fees were charged on the defendant and fixed at CHF 12’000,–; a party compensation of CHF 35’700,– (as requested) was awarded to the plaintiff. The decision can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.

From the reasons of the decision, it is evident that also nullity proceedings are currently ongoing before the FPC against the two European patents, i.e. EP 1 250 138 B2 and EP 2 266 573 B1. Case numbers are O2015_011 and O2015_012, respectively. No further information is currently available on these cases.

For an overview of litigation elsewhere on this topic, please see AZ’s Q3 2015 report (excerpt below, marked-up):

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Reported by Martin WILMING

— BIBLIOGRAPHY —

Case No. O2015_010 ¦ Decision of 05 January 2016 ¦ “Verzicht auf das Patent gemäss Art. 15 Abs. 1 lit. a PatG nachdem Patentnichtigkeitsklage rechtshängig ist; Gegenstandslosigkeit; Kosten- und Entschädigungsfolgen”

Actavis Switzerland AG ./. AstraZeneca AB

Composition of the Board of the FPC:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE

Court Clerk

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

Representative(s) of Defendant:

  • Dr. Michael RITSCHER (MLL)
  • Dr. Mark SCHWEIZER (MLL)
  • Dr. Kilian SCHÄRLI (MLL)

— DECISION IN FULL —

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Protection of potential trade secrets in an action by stages

Case No. O2012_033 ¦ Decision of 02 June 2015 ¦ “Action échelonnée: obligation de fournir des renseignements; possibilité de sauvegarder des secrets d’affaires”

De Grisogono: Instrumento Grande (left) and Instrumento Grande Open Date (right)
De Grisogono: Instrumento Grande (left) and Instrumento Grande Open Date (right)

Déjà-vu, you think? Indeed, this procedural decision is a follow-up on a decision of 30 January 2014 (commented in any detail here). In brief, certain De Grisogono watches were held to infringe a patent of Richemont, and injunctive relief had thus been granted. This decision had been appealed by De Grisogono, but the Supreme Court had rejected the appeal with decision of 02 October 2014; see 4A_142/2014.

In consequence, the second aspect of Richemont’s action by stages came into play, i.e. De Grisogono had to open the books in order to enable the plaintiff to quantify the damages. According the the decision of 30 January 2014, this had to be done within 60 days after the decision has become final, i.e. until 02 December 2014. After a series of term extensions and incomplete production of documents, the defendant finally – belatedly, without any justification – submitted a DVD-ROM with invoices pertaining to the infringing watches on 07 May 2015. The decision leaves no doubt about the court’s discontentment, for both the delay as such and the documents that have been produced. Apparently, the documentation on the DVD-ROM is not self-explanatory. The defendant was thus obliged to again organize and index the documents in an understandable manner.

Further, the defendant referred to Art. 156 CPC and requested that appropriate measures be taken by the court to ensure that business secrets are protected. In particular, it was requested that the DVD-ROM shall not be made available to the plaintiff. This was a non-starter: The production of documents is only the execution of a partial judgement that has become final. Any such request could (and should) have been made before the judgement had been taken.

At least one ray of hope on the horizon for the defendant: The FPC noted that the documentation on the DVD-ROM contains data not only with respect to the watches at stake, but rather also contains information with respect to jewelry, etc. The defendant was given a final opportunity (with a non-extendable deadline) to accordingly redact the respective documents in order to not disclose these unrelated information to the plaintiff. The FPC notes that if the defendant fails to provide such documents, the plaintiff will be served with the unredacted documents contained on the DVD-ROM that is already on file.

Reported by Martin WILMING

— BIBLIOGRAPHY —

Case No. O2012_033 ¦ Decision of 02 June 2015 ¦ “Action échelonnée: obligation de fournir des renseignements; possibilité de sauvegarder des secrets d’affaires”

Richemont International S.A.
./.
De Grisogono S.A.

Subject(s):

  • Infringement
  • Nullity

Board of Judges:

  • Dr. Dieter BRÄNDLE (President)

Court Clerk:

  • Susanne ANDERHALDEN

Representative(s) of Plaintiff:

  • Michel MUHLSTEIN (JMLP)

Representative(s) of Defendant(s):

— DECISION IN FULL —

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