Summaries: Law and Technology LLM Tilburg University
Academic Year: 2020-2021
! Disclaimer: Copyright of slides, schemes, pictures belongs to Tilburg University, its lecturers
and/or respective owners !
, 2020/2021
EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Table of Contents
Week 2: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
Knowledge Clips ................................................................................................................................ 1
Which are Generic Patterns that can be distinguished according to Grandstrand? ............................ 3
What responses are possible when confronted with a blocking patent?........................................................ 4
What issues can a patentee address in an IP-policy? These are internal corporate rules around IP .............. 5
Strategies ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Notes: ............................................................................................................................... 5
Tutorial............................................................................................................................................... 8
Week 3: Copyright .................................................................................................................. 10
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 10
Key Elements of Copyright Law ................................................................................................................. 11
Limitations ................................................................................................................................................... 16
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 17
Workshop ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Copyright attaches to creations that:............................................................................................................ 19
Copyright Exceptions .................................................................................................................................. 20
Week 4: Substantive Patent Law ............................................................................................ 21
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 21
Sources of Patent Law ................................................................................................................................. 21
Patentable Subject Matter ............................................................................................................................ 22
Public Policy Exceptions ............................................................................................................................. 23
Morality Clause ........................................................................................................................................... 23
Novelty, Inventive Step, Industrial Application .......................................................................................... 24
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 27
Patentable Subject Matter ............................................................................................................................ 27
Requirements of patentability ...................................................................................................................... 27
Public Policy Exclusions from Patentability ............................................................................................... 28
Varieties/ Essentially Biological Process Exclusions .................................................................................. 29
The Requirement for an Invention............................................................................................................... 30
Inventive Step .............................................................................................................................................. 33
Susceptibility of Industrial Application ....................................................................................................... 33
Patent Effects ............................................................................................................................................... 33
Patent scope ................................................................................................................................................. 33
General Principles of claim construction..................................................................................................... 33
Gene Patents granted in respect of EU member states ................................................................................ 34
Week 5: Patent Procedure, PCT, Patents with Unitary Effect ............................................. 38
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 38
What information must be provided in the application for a European patent? ....................................... 38
Description................................................................................................................................................... 38
The Claims ................................................................................................................................................... 38
Drawings, abstract, micro-organisms .......................................................................................................... 38
Procedural patent law up to grant ................................................................................................................ 39
Priority ......................................................................................................................................................... 39
The filing of a patent application ................................................................................................................. 39
Fictional non-novelty ................................................................................................................................... 40
European Patent Convention Issues............................................................................................................. 40
Amendments ................................................................................................................................................ 40
Opposition procedure for European patent .................................................................................................. 41
Jurisdiction of EPO’s opposition division and national courts.................................................................... 41
Interpretation of the scope of European patent claims ................................................................................ 41
96
, EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)............................................................................................................ 42
PCT-II .......................................................................................................................................................... 42
The International Application ...................................................................................................................... 42
Unitary right ................................................................................................................................................ 44
Language Regime ........................................................................................................................................ 45
Language Issue ............................................................................................................................................ 45
Barriers to ratification .................................................................................................................................. 45
Translations ................................................................................................................................................. 45
Preliminary Examination of the Application by the receiving section ........................................................ 50
Preparation and transmission of a European search report by the search division...................................... 50
Publication of the application and search report.......................................................................................... 51
Substantive examination of the application and invention by the examining divisions .............................. 51
Grant, Publication, and Effects of the Patent............................................................................................... 51
National Validation of the Patent ................................................................................................................ 51
Publication of the Patent Grant .................................................................................................................... 51
The Authentic .............................................................................................................................................. 52
European patents and applications as objects of property ........................................................................... 52
Patents and the Unitary Patent Court Jurisdiction Conundrum ................................................................... 52
The Unified Patent Court Pros and Cons of Specialization......................................................................... 53
Week 6: Databases and Trademark ....................................................................................... 56
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 56
DATABASES .............................................................................................................................................. 56
TRADEMARKS .......................................................................................................................................... 61
Registration and Publication ........................................................................................................................ 63
Shape as a result of the nature of the goods................................................................................................. 64
Value-conferring shape................................................................................................................................ 64
Exclusive rights and infringement ............................................................................................................... 64
Article 9(2) Right to prevent........................................................................................................................ 64
AdWords cases ............................................................................................................................................ 65
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 66
Introduction to rights in data and information ............................................................................................. 66
Database Rights ........................................................................................................................................... 66
Database: Article 1(2) Directive, elements:................................................................................................. 67
Copyright Protection for a Database............................................................................................................ 67
The Database Right...................................................................................................................................... 67
The New Right............................................................................................................................................. 67
Infringement of the Right ............................................................................................................................ 67
Exceptions to the Right................................................................................................................................ 68
Trademarks .................................................................................................................................................. 68
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 70
97
, EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Week 2: Introduction
Knowledge Clips
• Aim of IP: safeguarding creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting
time-limited rights to control the use made of those productions. Those rights apply to the
intellectual creation as such, not to the physical object.
• Examples
o Patents: protect technical inventions, how a technical issue can be solved
o Plant variety rights: protection for new varieties of cross-bred flowers
o Semi-conductor protection: mainly relevant for production of integrated circuits
o Copyrights: works of art, science, literature, computer programs, architecture
o Database right: data and work within databases
o Neighboring rights: rights for performing artists, broadcasting organizations, the idea is
that the success of copyrighted works depends on person who sings it or B.O.s who give
song airtime, so these organizations should also possess certain rights
o Designs: relation with copyright, but copyright does not protect the outer appearance of a
mass produce product, less strong protection with lower threshold
o Trademarks: allow consumer to distinguish products made by one manufacturer, great
value for companies because it allows consumers to recognize products and return to the
producer to buy again
• Why would a society want to have copyrights or patents? (Meta-juridical)
1. Incentive for innovation
o Public good character of ideas and information (non-exclusive, non-rival)
o Free rider problem (if you explain an intellectual solution to someone, it is easy for them
to apply it)
o Kitch’s prospect theory (from concept to marketable product, e.g. pharma) à Theory: the
view of the patent system conceives of the process of technological innovation as one in
which resources are brought to bear upon an array of prospects, each with its own set of
costs and returns.
o Prospect = opportunity to develop a known technological possibility, can be
pursued by any number of firms
o This process can be undertaken efficiently only if there’s a system that assures
efficient allocation of resources among the prospects at an efficient rate and in an
efficient amount à patent system achieves this by awarding exclusive and publicly
recorded ownership of a prospect shortly after its discovery à This view of the
patent system is ‘Prospect Theory’
Critique:
o If protection is an incentive, it may derive from other sources than IP such as, know-how
protection, first mover advantages, network advantages
o Could there be other incentives than protection? Arrow’s competition theory implies that
people come up with incentives and innovation because they’re part of a competitive
market, no other way to survive this market without it
o Should it all be about incentives? Locke’s Labor theory: sees to physical property, if you
mix your labor with certain material it gives you claim over these goods (ex: Wild West,
by fencing off land, you own the land)
2. Climate of openness that is conducive to (follow-on) innovation
o Follow-on innovation: a new innovation builds on a previous, views on this differ on ‘who’
is most suitable to do such improvement
o Best done by the rightsholder: Kitch’s prospect theory, more knowledge by original
rightsholder/creators
o Create room for anybody to engage in follow-on innovation, techniques:
- Mandatory publication of patents
1
Academic Year: 2020-2021
! Disclaimer: Copyright of slides, schemes, pictures belongs to Tilburg University, its lecturers
and/or respective owners !
, 2020/2021
EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Table of Contents
Week 2: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
Knowledge Clips ................................................................................................................................ 1
Which are Generic Patterns that can be distinguished according to Grandstrand? ............................ 3
What responses are possible when confronted with a blocking patent?........................................................ 4
What issues can a patentee address in an IP-policy? These are internal corporate rules around IP .............. 5
Strategies ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Notes: ............................................................................................................................... 5
Tutorial............................................................................................................................................... 8
Week 3: Copyright .................................................................................................................. 10
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 10
Key Elements of Copyright Law ................................................................................................................. 11
Limitations ................................................................................................................................................... 16
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 17
Workshop ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Copyright attaches to creations that:............................................................................................................ 19
Copyright Exceptions .................................................................................................................................. 20
Week 4: Substantive Patent Law ............................................................................................ 21
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 21
Sources of Patent Law ................................................................................................................................. 21
Patentable Subject Matter ............................................................................................................................ 22
Public Policy Exceptions ............................................................................................................................. 23
Morality Clause ........................................................................................................................................... 23
Novelty, Inventive Step, Industrial Application .......................................................................................... 24
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 27
Patentable Subject Matter ............................................................................................................................ 27
Requirements of patentability ...................................................................................................................... 27
Public Policy Exclusions from Patentability ............................................................................................... 28
Varieties/ Essentially Biological Process Exclusions .................................................................................. 29
The Requirement for an Invention............................................................................................................... 30
Inventive Step .............................................................................................................................................. 33
Susceptibility of Industrial Application ....................................................................................................... 33
Patent Effects ............................................................................................................................................... 33
Patent scope ................................................................................................................................................. 33
General Principles of claim construction..................................................................................................... 33
Gene Patents granted in respect of EU member states ................................................................................ 34
Week 5: Patent Procedure, PCT, Patents with Unitary Effect ............................................. 38
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 38
What information must be provided in the application for a European patent? ....................................... 38
Description................................................................................................................................................... 38
The Claims ................................................................................................................................................... 38
Drawings, abstract, micro-organisms .......................................................................................................... 38
Procedural patent law up to grant ................................................................................................................ 39
Priority ......................................................................................................................................................... 39
The filing of a patent application ................................................................................................................. 39
Fictional non-novelty ................................................................................................................................... 40
European Patent Convention Issues............................................................................................................. 40
Amendments ................................................................................................................................................ 40
Opposition procedure for European patent .................................................................................................. 41
Jurisdiction of EPO’s opposition division and national courts.................................................................... 41
Interpretation of the scope of European patent claims ................................................................................ 41
96
, EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)............................................................................................................ 42
PCT-II .......................................................................................................................................................... 42
The International Application ...................................................................................................................... 42
Unitary right ................................................................................................................................................ 44
Language Regime ........................................................................................................................................ 45
Language Issue ............................................................................................................................................ 45
Barriers to ratification .................................................................................................................................. 45
Translations ................................................................................................................................................. 45
Preliminary Examination of the Application by the receiving section ........................................................ 50
Preparation and transmission of a European search report by the search division...................................... 50
Publication of the application and search report.......................................................................................... 51
Substantive examination of the application and invention by the examining divisions .............................. 51
Grant, Publication, and Effects of the Patent............................................................................................... 51
National Validation of the Patent ................................................................................................................ 51
Publication of the Patent Grant .................................................................................................................... 51
The Authentic .............................................................................................................................................. 52
European patents and applications as objects of property ........................................................................... 52
Patents and the Unitary Patent Court Jurisdiction Conundrum ................................................................... 52
The Unified Patent Court Pros and Cons of Specialization......................................................................... 53
Week 6: Databases and Trademark ....................................................................................... 56
Knowledge Clips .............................................................................................................................. 56
DATABASES .............................................................................................................................................. 56
TRADEMARKS .......................................................................................................................................... 61
Registration and Publication ........................................................................................................................ 63
Shape as a result of the nature of the goods................................................................................................. 64
Value-conferring shape................................................................................................................................ 64
Exclusive rights and infringement ............................................................................................................... 64
Article 9(2) Right to prevent........................................................................................................................ 64
AdWords cases ............................................................................................................................................ 65
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 66
Introduction to rights in data and information ............................................................................................. 66
Database Rights ........................................................................................................................................... 66
Database: Article 1(2) Directive, elements:................................................................................................. 67
Copyright Protection for a Database............................................................................................................ 67
The Database Right...................................................................................................................................... 67
The New Right............................................................................................................................................. 67
Infringement of the Right ............................................................................................................................ 67
Exceptions to the Right................................................................................................................................ 68
Trademarks .................................................................................................................................................. 68
Literature Notes............................................................................................................................... 70
97
, EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW & TECHNOLOGY
Week 2: Introduction
Knowledge Clips
• Aim of IP: safeguarding creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting
time-limited rights to control the use made of those productions. Those rights apply to the
intellectual creation as such, not to the physical object.
• Examples
o Patents: protect technical inventions, how a technical issue can be solved
o Plant variety rights: protection for new varieties of cross-bred flowers
o Semi-conductor protection: mainly relevant for production of integrated circuits
o Copyrights: works of art, science, literature, computer programs, architecture
o Database right: data and work within databases
o Neighboring rights: rights for performing artists, broadcasting organizations, the idea is
that the success of copyrighted works depends on person who sings it or B.O.s who give
song airtime, so these organizations should also possess certain rights
o Designs: relation with copyright, but copyright does not protect the outer appearance of a
mass produce product, less strong protection with lower threshold
o Trademarks: allow consumer to distinguish products made by one manufacturer, great
value for companies because it allows consumers to recognize products and return to the
producer to buy again
• Why would a society want to have copyrights or patents? (Meta-juridical)
1. Incentive for innovation
o Public good character of ideas and information (non-exclusive, non-rival)
o Free rider problem (if you explain an intellectual solution to someone, it is easy for them
to apply it)
o Kitch’s prospect theory (from concept to marketable product, e.g. pharma) à Theory: the
view of the patent system conceives of the process of technological innovation as one in
which resources are brought to bear upon an array of prospects, each with its own set of
costs and returns.
o Prospect = opportunity to develop a known technological possibility, can be
pursued by any number of firms
o This process can be undertaken efficiently only if there’s a system that assures
efficient allocation of resources among the prospects at an efficient rate and in an
efficient amount à patent system achieves this by awarding exclusive and publicly
recorded ownership of a prospect shortly after its discovery à This view of the
patent system is ‘Prospect Theory’
Critique:
o If protection is an incentive, it may derive from other sources than IP such as, know-how
protection, first mover advantages, network advantages
o Could there be other incentives than protection? Arrow’s competition theory implies that
people come up with incentives and innovation because they’re part of a competitive
market, no other way to survive this market without it
o Should it all be about incentives? Locke’s Labor theory: sees to physical property, if you
mix your labor with certain material it gives you claim over these goods (ex: Wild West,
by fencing off land, you own the land)
2. Climate of openness that is conducive to (follow-on) innovation
o Follow-on innovation: a new innovation builds on a previous, views on this differ on ‘who’
is most suitable to do such improvement
o Best done by the rightsholder: Kitch’s prospect theory, more knowledge by original
rightsholder/creators
o Create room for anybody to engage in follow-on innovation, techniques:
- Mandatory publication of patents
1
