2014 UK Patent Law Changes Come Into Effect 1 October

From 1 October 2014, changes to UK patent law come into effect. These include:

Marking patented products with a website address

Patented products can be marked with a website address instead of the patent number and country of the patent. The website address must direct you to a webpage that sets out the patent number(s) associated with that product.

Choosing to mark products is a useful strategy for patent owners. An infringer may be able to avoid paying damages if they can prove they were not aware of the patent, and had no reasonable grounds for supposing the patent existed, at the time of the infringement. However, if the product is marked, the infringer cannot avoid paying damages in this way.

Introducing this new option of marking patented products with a website address is a useful tool for patent owners. Not only can they keep their product and patent information up-to-date, their users can easily access this.

Patent research exception

Companies can use patented products to carry out tests or other activities (i) to provide information, such as clinical trial information, to a regulatory authority (such as the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) to assess whether a medicinal product should be approved or (ii) for health technology assessments that are carried out by a government or public body (such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) on whether a medicinal product should be used in the provision of healthcare.

This clarifies the current position that these activities are within the scope of the experimental use exception from infringement.

This new provision does not extend to any commercial activities (such as sale, commercial supply or manufacture for sale or supply) – a licence or consent from the patent owner will still be required here to avoid infringement.