What the skilled man decision means for applicants
02 August 2010
Managing Intellectual Property
Mark Marfe explains what impact the UK Court of Appeal decision in Schlumberger will have for IP owners and litigants
On July 28 the UK Court of Appeal gave its ruling in Schlumberger Holdings Ltd v EMGS. The lead judgment was given by Lord Justice Jacob, who provided welcome guidance on how the make up of the 'skilled addressee' or 'skilled team' should be interpreted in the UK.
Jacob also commented extensively on the role of secondary evidence and how it can be applied when assessing obviousness in patent cases.
The skilled man
The skilled man test is used to determine whether a patent can be deemed valid. A patent is addressed to an artificial construct called the skilled addressee, that is, an individual (or team) skilled in the subject matter of the invention, but who is/are incapable of ingenuity or making intellectual jumps.
This construct is used to assess whether a patent is obvious over known technology and if the patent's teaching can be put into practice (sufficiency)....
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