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Obviousness test clarified by House of Lords

18 July 2008

The House of Lords last week delivered a long-awaited judgment in the fifth patent case to come before it in as many years. The case gives important clarification on identifying the inventive concept of a patent for assessing obviousness and on whether a patented invention is obvious where the disclosure in the patent is merely speculative. The High Court and Court of Appeal had reached views which had differed from those of the Dutch District Court. This decision brings the UK into line with the Dutch decision.

Author/Editor

Anthony Trenton

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