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Sequences of Genes as Inventions

In this article, we would like to discuss one of the issues that involves the patent law regulations in the area of biotechnology. Is it possible to grant a patent for a sequence of a gene? In other words, would it be possible to treat genes as inventions and if yes, then what conditions should be fulfilled for such a classification? The debate on this subject is full of controversies. At...

Unified Patent Court: Representation of Parties to Proceedings Before the Unified Patent Court

The launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is quickly approaching. With 24 EU Member States within its jurisdiction, it will be exclusively competent in matters relating to validity and infringements of the European patents with unitary effects, European patents and supplementary protection certificates granted for inventions protected by such patents. We have previously indicated in our...

Licensing agreements and other technology transfer agreements and the competition law

As we can read in “Patent Law” by Professor Du Vall, the economic and social rationales behind the IP law and the competition law are to a considerable degree convergent: “they are supposed to contribute to ensuring benefits for consumers and the effective allocation of the means of production”. The relation between these two fields of law remains, however, rather complicated: the...

SPC Manufacturing Waiver

The subject of the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) has already been featured in a number of our publications. The essential basic information about SPC can be found in one of the first entries in our series “Patents Without Secrets” (No. 7/2020 — available only in Polish language). We have also covered for you the case-law of the CJEU clarifying the conditions for granting of...

Know-how: the protection of trade secrets

Know-how, technological knowledge developed by an enterprise in a particular field, is not protected under the industrial property law, and yet it might play a considerable role when it comes to keeping inventions safe from unauthorized use by third parties. In this article we will present you the definition of know-how, as well as a catalogue of claims that an entitled person can raise in case...

Patent linkage in the proposed amendment to the Polish Reimbursement Act

In Poland, the work on the amendment of The Act of 12 May 2011 on the Reimbursement of Medicines, Foodstuffs Intended for Particular Nutritional Uses and Medical Devices is currently in progress. The project developed by the Ministry of Health was published in the Public Information Bulletin of the Government Legislation Center on 30 June 2021. On the same day, an invitation to public...

The Unified Patent Court: Protective Letter

The preparations for the launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) are currently in progress. An international court that would be exclusively competent in matters of validity and infringements of unitary patents as well as European patents granted by the EPO, will start functioning in late 2022 or early 2023. The emergence of the UPC will dramatically change the landscape of industrial property...

Doctrine of Equivalents

In our previous article in the cycle “Patents Without Secrets” we discussed the available methods applied in interpretation of patent claims, pointing out to some characteristic discrepancies occurring between the manner of construing claims in the Polish legal system (the Act of 30 June 2020 - the Industrial Property Law (IPL)) and on the grounds of the Convention on the Grant of European...

Infringements of second medical use patents: an overview of the selected case law

The matter of the protection of new medical uses is one of the most controversial and the most often discussed subjects in patent law. In one of our previous articles in the cycle “Patents Without Secrets” concerning fundamental aspects of the protection of second and further medical uses (“New medical uses: the basic information,” Patents Without Secrets No. 4/2021) we made a promise...

Interpretation of Patent Claims

The extent of the protection conferred by a patent is determined by claims included in the patent description. This rule finds expression in Article 63 Section 2 of the Polish Act of 30 June 2000 — the Industrial Property Law (IPL); the provision in question specifies that the description and drawings can be used for the interpretation of claims. Despite seemingly unambiguous wording, this...

The New EPO Guidelines: An Overview of the Key Changes

Since March 1, 2021 new Guidelines of the European Patent Office (EPO) are in force. Until now, such an update tended to take place annually in November; this shift in calendar is consistent with a broader plan of reforms related to the Strategic Plan 2023 being currently implemented by EPO, which among its key initiatives lists fostering social dialogue and engaging stakeholders. The new...

The Debate on the Waiver of Patents for Vaccines Against SARS-CoV-2

The subject that we have already written about in our previous Legal Reports — the suspension of patent protection for vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (see: Patent rights: an obstacle for development of a vaccine against COVID-19? (WTS Legal Report No. 15/2020) and What is permitted under the TRIPS Agreement when it comes to the scarcity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines? (WTS Legal Report No....

New medical uses: the basic information

The patentability requirements have already been extensively covered in our publications: let us remind you that according to Article 24 of the Act of 30 June 2000 - Industrial Property Law (hereinafter: IPL), patents are granted for inventions that satisfy the criteria of novelty, inventive step, and industrial application. As for novelty, more detailed rules for its assessment are provided...

Patent licensing

Under Article 66 Section 2 of the Act of 30 June 2000 - Industrial Property Law (hereinafter as IPL), a patent holder can give to another person a contractual authorization (a license) to use their invention (a licensing agreement). In this article in the series "Patents Without Secrets" we would like to present you the key information regarding licensing agreements in the Polish patent law:...

What is permitted under the TRIPS Agreement when it comes to the scarcity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines?

In last December we published an issue of our Legal Report concerning the legal aspects of development of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We wrote in it about the race of pharmaceutical companies — at that moment back then only several weeks had passed since Moderna and Pfizer submitted first motions for emergency authorisations of their products and the optimistic news about...

The extended scope of patent rights: Articles 64 and 65 of the IPL

The most recent posts in our cycle "Patents Without Secrets" concerned the limitations to patent rights; this time we would like to present you the other side of the coin: namely, situations wherein the legislator allows for the extension of the scope of protection. In other terms, we would like discuss in which cases we will be dealing with the indirect patent protection. The indirectness of...

New guidelines published by the President of the Polish Patent Office

In October 2020 the Polish Patent Office (PPO) published the latest version of the President’s guidelines regarding inventions and utility models. The guidelines elaborate quite often on certain matters that are not expressly addressed in relevant statuary and executive provisions, they suggest possible directions for interpretation of binding law, and specify numerous formal and technical...

The Unified Patent Court: A new episode in the long-running series

The Unified Patent Court and innumerable obstacles on the way to its launch have already been featured in our Legal Reports (see: WTS Legal Report No. 6/2020 and WTS Legal Report No. 7/2020). We decided that, at the beginning of the new year, it is worth to return to this controversial subject and present our take on the recent developments in this series that has already been running for...

Patent rights: an obstacle for development of a vaccine against COVID-19?

Recently we have been anxiously following a race of major pharmaceutical concerns: who would be the first to develop an effective vaccine against COVID-19? On 8 November Pfizer announced that their vaccine has an effectivity rate of 90%; just a week later Moderna "outbid" it, boasting 94,5% effectivity rate of their product. The dominant narrative emphasizes the common effort of the whole...

Limitations to patent rights: compulsory licenses in the Polish legal system

Both Polish and international law provide certain institutions that — even though not extensively used in practice — allow to interfere with a patent holder's exclusive right to use an invention. We would like to dedicate this entry in our cycle Patents Without Secrets to offer you an overview of the Polish regulation in the area of compulsory licenses. This issue gains particular...