LAC PRESENTATION BY IP LAW COMMITTEE OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND AND ASSOCIATION OF PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS Maureen Daly (Beauchamps Solicitors); Peter Hanna (Hanna, Moore & Curley); Fiona O’Beirne (McCann FitzGerald); -and- Laura Scott (William Fry)
Overview of Irish legal system -by- Maureen Daly
Irish Legal System • Ireland is a “common law” jurisdiction like - Singapore - Hong Kong • Great weight placed on court decisions – it is law with the same force of statutes • Irish Courts bound by previous decisions
Types of Lawyers in Ireland (a) Solicitors Offer initial legal advice / take instructions If legal proceedings issued, they organise witnesses, assist in preparing their statements or evidence, assemble documents for court, corresponds with the solicitor on the other side
(b) Barristers A sole practitioner and is independent They argue the case in court, draft the documents used in court (the "pleadings") and draft written submissions to the court Depending on the complexity of the case, it may be necessary to instruct junior and senior counsel
Solicitors and Barristers in Court Work together in any litigation to represent the client and put the best case forward
Patent Attorneys In patent infringement and/or revocation proceedings, solicitors and barristers work with patent attorneys Patent attorneys provide technical advice
Role of Patent Attorney -by- Peter Hanna
Business: Understand what has to be protected, why, what benefits Technical: Be able to draft patents (technical disclosure) Legal: Be able to draft strong patent claims EUROPEAN
The Invention: a “quick - release” monkey wrench EUROPEAN
1. A rapid adjustable wrench, the adjustable wrench is comprised of wrench body, adjustable wrench head, worm, pin shaft, spring, support pin, bond type wedge, stop pin, there is a fixed wrench head in the front end of the wrench body, there is a handle in the back end of the wrench body, there is a clamping face on the fixed wrench head, there is a recess below the fixed wrench head, there are two faces that parallel to each other in the inner upper of the recess, the lower portion of the recess is in a circular arc surface, there is a cutout downward the middle portion of the circular arc surface, the cutout connects with a rectangular through hole, the adjustable wrench head is comprised of the upper portion, middle portion and lower portion, there is a clamping face on the upper portion, the thickness of the middle portion is less than the distance of the two faces that are parallel to each other within the recess of the fixed wrench head, the two sides of the lower portion of the adjustable wrench head are symmetrical and in circular arc surface, the greatest distance between the arc surface is less than the diameter of the bottom circular arc surface of the recess of the fixed wrench head, the teeth are set on the top end of the lower portion of the adjustable wrench head, the top of the teeth is in blunt and meshed with the spiral gear of the worm, characterized in that, a bond type hole is set below the recess of the fixed wrench head, the bond type hole through the rectangular through hole from the wrench body surface that away from the clamping face of the fixed wrench head and extends to a position that adjacent to the below of the clamping face of the fixed wrench head, and forms a bond type through hole and a bond type blind hole, which are located on the two sides of the rectangular through hole respectively, the centerline of the bone type hole is perpendicular to the clamping face of the fixed wrench head, two spring holes through the lower portion of the recess and extend to the lower portion of another side of the bond type through hole and the bond type blind hole respectively, inserting the one end of the spring into the spring hole through the lower portion of the recess, inserting the thinner end of the two support pins into the central hole of the spring also through the lower portion of the recess, putting the worm into the middle of the rectangular through hole, inserting the one end of the pin shaft into the bond type through hole from the outside of the wrench body, while depressing the top end of the support pin within the bond type through hole, such that the pin shaft is located over the top end of the support pin, the pin shaft through the central hole of the worm, while depressing the top end of the support pin within the bond type blind hole until the pin shaft is located over the top end of the support pin, and contacted with the bottom face of the bond type blind hole, thereafter, embedding the bond type wedge into the bond type hole from the outside of the wrench body, and preventing the pin shaft removed from the wrench body, depressing the worm in the opposite direction of the spring tension, facing the clamping face of the adjustable wrench head with the clamping face of the fixed wrench head and pushing the lower portion of the adjustable wrench head to the recess of the fixed wrench head, a recess is set on one side of the middle portion of the adjustable wrench head which is mated with the adjustable wrench head, a stop through hole is set on one side of the recess that away from the clamping face of the fixed wrench head, fixing the stop pin within the stop through hole, and preventing the adjustable wrench head from sliding off along a direction that away from the clamping face of the fixed wrench head.
A better claim: 1. A wrench, comprising a fixed wrench head (101) and an adjustable wrench head (2) held in engagement by means of a worm screw (3), characterized in that the worm screw (3) can be pushed into screw thread engagement with the adjustable wrench head (2) EUROPEAN or released by means of a spring (5).
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EP Applications from China ↙ 16946 18000 PCT Applications designating EP 16000 Entering EP phase 14000 12000 EP Direct Applications 10000 8000 6000 ↙ 2945 4000 2000 ↙ 476 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
EP Applications from China 2011 783 469 76 51 37 35 25 12
Irish legal landscape for patents and Patent infringement -by- Fiona O’Beirne
Ireland The Legal Landscape • Patents Act 1992 (as amended) • European Patent Convention (EPC) • EPO
Ireland The Legal Landscape ctd. • Irish Patents Office • Irish Courts (High Court)
Infringement What Acts? • Direct infringement • Indirect infringement
Infringement ctd. Direct Infringement (a) making, offering, putting on the market or using a product which is the subject-matter of the patent, or importing or stocking the product for those purposes; (b) using a process which is the subject-matter of the patent, or, when the third party knows, or it is obvious to a reasonable person in the circumstances, that the use of the process is prohibited without the consent of the proprietor of the patent, offering the process for use in the State; (c) offering putting on the market, using or importing, or stocking for those purposes, the product obtained directly by a process which is the subject-matter of the patent.
Infringement ctd. Indirect infringement “ supplying or offering to supply in the State a person, other than a party entitled to exploit the patented invention, with means, relating to an essential element of that invention, for putting it into effect therein, when the third party knows, or it is obvious in the circumstances to a reasonable person, that the said means are suitable and intended for putting that invention into effect”
Claim construction and Doctrine of Equivalents -by- Peter Hanna
DOCTRINE OF EQUIVALENTS Doctrine of equivalents (UK Approach) Strict literal meaning of claims defines protection Give words their ordinary meaning (to a person skilled in the art) - INTERNAL: are there any special definitions in the description? - EXTERNAL: use a dictionary or an expert to decide meaning
DOCTRINE OF EQUIVALENTS Doctrine of equivalents (US approach) ALL elements of the claim must be infringed, either literally, or equivalently Equivalent element must - perform the same function - in substantially the same way - to yield substantially the same result Prosecution history estoppel
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