SEPTEMBER 2008
Lords add to obviousness debate
The House of Lords made its most important patent ruling in recent times when it clarified the test for obviousness in the UK. How have other courts dealt with this issue?
The House of Lords made its most important patent ruling in recent times on July 9, when it clarified the test for obviousness in the UK. In the closely watched case, Conor Medsystems Inc v Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc, the Lords upheld the validity of Angiotech's European patent for a paclitaxel-eluting stent and reversed the decisions of the UK Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal. The lower courts had held the European patent to be invalid on the grounds of obviousness, though the validity of the same patent had been upheld in proceedings in The Netherlands.
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