EPLAW Patent Blog

UK - Nokia v. IPcom (appeal)

Court of Appeal on appeal from the High Court of Justice Chancery Division (Patents Court), Case No: A3/2011/2018 & 2018(Y), Nokia Coporation v. IPCom Gmbh & Co KG

The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a first instance finding of the Patents Court that IPCom's European Patent (UK) 1 841 268 was partially valid and infringed.  Paragraphs 46-60 contain a useful summary of the UK approach to the assessment of added matter, with references to prior UK cases and decisions of the EPO.

Read the judgment in English here.

Head note: Graham Burnett-Hall

UK - Nokia v IPCom

Nokia GmbH v IPCom GmbH & Co. KG, High Court, 20 February 2012, Case No. HC09C04868, Neutral Citation Number: [2012] EWHC 225 (Pat)

In the latest of a long line of patent cases between IPCom and Nokia, Mr Justice Floyd held that IPCom’s proposed amendments to its patent be allowed in order to preserve validity but that none of the claims of the amended patent was in any event essential to the UMTS, GSM or LTD mobile telecommunications standards. The case was relatively unusual in that neither infringement nor validity of the patent as granted were directly in issue. Rather IPCom sought to maintain validity based on three alternative sets of amendments, whilst Nokia sought a declaration that the patent as granted or as proposed to be amended was not essential to various standards, implying that it was possible to sell a device which conformed to that standard without infringing the patent.

UK - Nokia v. HMRC / Manufacturing Fiction - Question referred

Nokia Corporation v. Her Majesty's Commissioners of Revenue & Customs and the International Trade Mark Association (as proposed intervener), Manufacturing Fiction / Referral to the Court of Justice, Court of Appeal England and Wales, London, UK, 9 November 2009, with thanks to Frank Eijsvogels, Howrey

The court of Appeal asks the following question:

"Are non-Community goods bearing a Community trade mark which are subject to customs supervision in a Member State and in transit from a non-Member State another non-Member State capable of constituting "counterfeit goods" within the meaning of Article 2(1)(a) of Regulation 1383/2003/EC of there is no evidence to suggest that those goods will be put on the market in the EC, either in conformity with a customs procedure or by means of an illicit diversion."

Read the order (in English) here.
Read the order (in Dutch) here.

Read a previous post on EPLAW Patent Blog here.

UK - Nokia v. IPCom (GSM/UMTS)

Nokia GmbH v. IPCom GmbH & Co. KG and IPCom GmbH & CO. KG v. Nokia UK Limited and Nokia OYJ (Nokia Corporation), Invalidity and infringement proceedings (GSM, UMTS), High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court, The Hon Mr Justice Floyd, London, UK, 18 January 2010, Case No. [2009] EWHC 3482 (Pat)

These proceedings concern two patents in the name of IPCom. IPCom sued Nokia for infringement of both patents.  The proceedings are part of a larger battle between the parties.  Licensing and infringement litigation commenced in Germany between a Nokia company and IPCom when licensing negotiations between the companies broke down.

The two patents in this case relate to cellular mobile phone technology. European Patent (UK) No. 540 808 (“808”), is concerned with the way in which the mobile phone synchronises itself with the transmissions it receives from the base station.  The second of the patents, European Patent (UK) No. 1 186 189 (“189”), is concerned with management of the right of the mobile phone to connect to the network.

The court concludes that the 808 Patent is invalid for obviousness over the GSM recommendations, and also over both Baier and D’Avella when combined with common general knowledge.  Had it been valid it would have been infringed by the 6300.  808 is not essential to the GSM standard. The 189 patent is invalid. Had it been valid it would have been infringed by both the N96 and the New Device. 189 is essential to the operation of UMTS. 

Read the judgment (in English) here.