» Patents Without Secrets

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...

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...

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...

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 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:...

Blog