United KingdomRecent developments in patent law
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The past year has seen some key legal developments in the patent field. In the first-ever UK decision on this issue, the High Court ruled on the employee compensation scheme for patented inventions under the Patents Act 1977, resulting in a successful claim by two employees against their former employer. The House of Lords (replaced since October 1 2009 by the Supreme Court) clarified the applicable law as to insufficiency, the subject of its earlier ruling in Biogen. Finally, the Court of Appeal considered the criteria to apply to a commercial success defence when dealing with an attack based on obviousness.
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