John Bean Technologies Corporation v. Immo AFO, X. District Court the Hague, the Netherlands, 23 February 2011, Case no. 363101 / HA ZA 10-1264
John Bean alleged the invalidity of Afoheat's European Patent re 'Process and apparatus for the cooking of meat foods'. Prior art document Sunao describes an aparatus for the heating of pizza's, gratins or -more general- food. This generic disclosure does not take away the novelty of any specific example falling within the terms of that disclosure (Guidelines for Examination Part C, IV paragraph 9.5). Moreover, Sunao describes a shielding wall and not a tunnel. Other validity attacks fail as well.
Read the judgment (in Dutch) here.
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