German Federal Patent Court, 12 May 2010, Docket No. 4 Ni 21/09
Once more, the German Federal Patent Court (BPatG) decided that the subsidiarity principle as stated in section 81 par. 2 PatG (German Patent Act) is also applicable with respect to European patents and opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO) and is not limited to German patents and opposition proceedings before the BPatG. Therefore, independent of whether the case is about a German patent or a German part of a European patent, according to the subsidiarity principle a nullity action against the patent is inadmissible as long as an opposition against the patent may still be filed or is still pending.
Read the decision (in German) here.
Read the summary (in English) here.
Headnote and summary: Tilman Mueller-Stoy
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