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Uexkull & Stolberg, Hamburg

Software distribution outside the scope of a licence agreement does amount to copyright infringement according to the US District Court of San Jose.

In a recent case, the English Court of Appeal looked again at the issue of the purposive construction of a patent (Wheatley & Anor v Drillsafe Ltd & Anors). Wheatley´ s patent claimed a centre-less hole cutter, which is a hole cutter with no central drill for forming a pilot hole. This is especially suitable for forming threaded holes in, for example, underground petrol tanks without the need to open the tanks. The defendants´ drill had a semi-penetrating retractable probe within the cutting tool to prevent the cutter from wandering. The defendants argued that this probe meant that the drill was a variant which fell outside the claims of the patent.

An October 25 2000 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit re-emphasizes the importance of the so-called "written description" requirement of United States patent law. In Purdue Pharma LP v Faulding Inc, 56 USPQ 2d 1481 (Fed Cir 2000), the Court affirmed a district court ruling invalidating several claims because nothing in the underlying patent application clearly and necessarily described the subject matter later embodied in its issued claims, saying:

Indian courts have tackled a number of trade mark disputes in the past year. Binny Kalra and Gitanjli Duggal, of Anand and Anand in New Delhi, reviews the most important cases

Africa

The jury trial is one of the most challenging aspects of the US patent system for overseas users. James W Gould reveals the key issues litigants need to address when choosing between jury and bench trials

Parallel importers, for so long the bugbear of companies operating within Europe, suffered a significant setback last month when a decision against the drugs company Bayer was overturned.

On October 1 2000 two new Acts entered into force connected with industrial property rights. They concern biotechnological inventions and industrial designs. As both of them are important, the following is a brief summary of them.

So far the German practice as to patentability of computer program-related inventions has been rather strict, in particular with regard to the requirement of a technical character which was denied for most program-related inventions unless there was an interaction between the programmed method or computer with an external technical means. By two recent decisions, however, the Federal Supreme Court considerably extended the area in which program-related inventions will be considered as patentable technical inventions.