Samsung Bioepis UK Ltd v Janssen Biotech, Inc.
[2024] EWHC 2442 (Pat)
Sycurio Limited v PCI-PAL PLC
4 June 2024
[2024] EWCA Civ 606
Court of Appeal
A company's patent for a system to protect payment information in call centres was challenged. The court decided the patent's wording was too broad, allowing for more possibilities than originally intended, meaning the invention wasn't new enough. Therefore, the patent was cancelled.
Key Facts
- •Appeal against an order revoking UK Patent No. 2 473 376 ('the Patent') for "Signal detection and blocking for voice processing equipment."
- •Patent claims apparatus and method for reducing fraud by blocking DTMF tones during sensitive information input in call centres.
- •The judge held claim 9 (method claim) invalid for obviousness over prior art (Van Volkenburgh and Shaffer), rendering other claims invalid.
- •The judge also held that even if claim 9 were valid, there was no infringement.
- •Sycurio (Claimant/Appellant) appealed on five grounds, primarily challenging the construction of claim 9.
- •The appeal focused on the construction of claim 9, specifically integer (f) regarding transmission of the request to an external entity.
Legal Principles
Construction of patent claims is done through the eyes of the skilled person, considering common general knowledge, the description and drawings, purposively, and the inventor's purpose.
Well-established propositions of patent claim construction
While a claim might not cover everything described, a wider meaning is preferred if the language reasonably allows it; exclusionary language must be clear.
Philip Morris Products SA v Nicoventures Trading Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1638
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The judge correctly construed claim 9. The claim's broad and general language, the specification's disclosure of various embodiments, and the absence of explicit exclusionary language all support a broad interpretation encompassing both direct and indirect transmission routes to the external entity (integer (f)). The location of the call processor (inside or outside the call centre) is immaterial; its functionality is key.