BL number
O/350/17
Concerning rights in
EP(UK)1690772 B1
Hearing Officer
Mr H Jones
Decision date
24 July 2017
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Saunders and Dolleymore V Keter Plastics Ltd
Provisions discussed
Sections 72
Keywords
Costs, Inventive step, Novelty
Related Decisions
None

Summary

An application for revocation of patent number EP(UK)1690772 in the name of Keter Plastics Ltd on the grounds of lack of novelty and inventive step. Foreign equivalents of the patent had been successfully defended in other jurisdictions. The patent relates to a stackable bucket with wheels having an extended back wall which acts as a handle for pulling or pushing the bucket along the ground. The attacks on novelty and inventive step were based on the disclosure of a wheeled cart in US3346271. Both of these attacks failed and scale costs were awarded to the patentee, the hearing officer noting that the claimant was entitled to bring its application before the office despite the fact that the patent had been successfully defended elsewhere.