Court of Appeal Denies Late Patent Amendments in Nokia Invalidity Case

摘要

The English Court of Appeal has upheld a refusal by the High Court to entertain applications by a patentee to amend two of its patents which were both held invalid in the same proceedings, where those applications were submitted shortly before trial and after judgment (Nokia GmbHv. IPCom GmbH [2011] EWCA Civ 6). The decision highlights the need for a patentee to consider carefully any need to amend at an early stage in proceedings, even where this might undermine negotiations with other licensees (or prospective licensees), in order to avoid a possibly worse injury - losing the patent entirely.