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worldipreview.com
NPEs: hiding ownership and gaming the system
The lack of transparency around NPEs marks a serious problem for the European patent system, argues Patrick Oliver of IP2Innovate.
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Patrick Oliver
Patent abuse hurts European SMEs and undermines the knowledge transfer process
This year World Intellectual Property Day focuses on SMEs. As the two examples below show, patents can be an SME’s worst enemy, as well as their best friend. Abuse by patent assertion entities is a serious and growing threat in Europe, especially to small and mid-size innovative firms. The gaming of the European patent system must stop.
IP2Innovate
UPC Early Litigation Data: The Innovation Paradox
The Unified Patent Court’s first two years reveal a troubling pattern: the system is being deployed against the most innovative companies – particularly in high-tech sectors that drive technological progress and economic growth. Without modernising EU patent rules, the UPC risks becoming an innovation tax on these critical industries.
Data source: Independent research initiative led by Valerio Sterzi (University of Bordeaux), tracking all UPC infringement cases since June 1, 2023, available at Key figures – UPCTrack
IP2Innovate
Professors Hofmann and Raue: Taking proportionality seriously in the Unified Patent Court
Two German law professors, Dr Franz Hofmann and Dr Benjamin Raue have pooled forces to publish a joint paper this week on the delicate issue of injunctions and damages for the infringement of patents.
The paper, entitled ‘Injunctions and Damages for the Infringement of Patents under the UPCA; an Analysis in the Light of the Principle of Proportionality’ calls for a more nuanced approach to patent infringement cases, and it urges judges of the recently launched UPC to consider damages instead of automatic injunctions as a remedy in their rulings.