By Victoria Slind-Flor
(This is a daily report on global news about patents, trademarks, copyright and other intellectual property topics. Updates with Cinven item in top section.)
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit in Germany seeking to ban sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s smartphone models, including the Galaxy S Plus and the S II.
The suit targeting 10 smartphones was filed in the Dusseldorf Regional Court and is based on Apple design rights in Europe, court spokesman Peter Schuetz said by telephone yesterday. Apple also started a separate suit against five Samsung tablet computer models related to a September ruling banning the Galaxy 10.1, he said.
Last month, the Dusseldorf court said it is unlikely to grant an injunction against the Galaxy 10.1N, a modified version of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet, and an appeals court also voiced doubts about the reach of Apple’s European Union design right that won the company the injunction against the 10.1. The new suits aren’t filed under emergency proceedings and allow Apple a new procedure against both models.
Since winning the September injunction, Cupertino, California-based Apple has faced setbacks in its battle against its closest rival in tablet computers. The iPad maker failed to persuade an Australian court on Dec. 9 to reinstate a ban in that country. Both companies also filed patent suits against each other in several European countries.
A spokesman for Samsung, who declined to be identified, said the company had received both suits.
The new cases are LG Dusseldorf, 14c O 293/11 and 14c O 294/11.
Danisco Loses Bid to Delay Novozymes Trial on Animal Feed Patent
Danisco A/S lost a bid to delay a U.K. trial in its patent battle with Novozymes A/S over a type of enzyme that aids digestion of animal feed.
Danisco, a unit of DuPont Co. that makes food additives, sought to pause the case until the European Patent Office ruled on the dispute.
Novozymes, the world’s largest maker of industrial enzymes, is fighting to defend its animal feed patent in Denmark, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. The U.K. Court of Appeal yesterday rejected Danisco’s second application to push back the trial, and for permission to use documents from the U.K. case in the European proceedings.
The European Patent Office, which isn’t part of the European Union but offers the closest protection available to an EU-wide patent, revoked Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novozymes’ patent in July. The decision was appealed by Novozymes and will be heard by the EPO later this year.
Danisco’s lawyer Christopher Stothers and Novozymes’ lawyer Morag Macdonald declined to comment after yesterday’s hearing.
European Patent Office Says Patent Filings Increased in 2011
The European patent Office said patent filings increased by 3 percent last year compared with 2010.
The office received 243,000 patent applications and granted 62,115 patents, Munich-based EPO said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. About 62 percent of all filings last year came from outside Europe, with U.S. applications at 24 percent, Japanese applications at 19 percent and Chinese applications at 7 percent.
The EPO isn’t part of the European Union and has 38 member countries. The EPO offers the closest thing presently available to an EU-wide patent.
Cinven Said to Seek $660 Million of Loans to Fund CPA Buyout
Cinven Ltd., the London-based buyout firm, is seeking about 430 million pounds ($660 million) of financing for its leveraged buyout of patent business CPA Global, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.
The owner of the Pizza Express restaurant chain hired HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to arrange the funding, which includes 310 million pounds of senior loans and 120 million pounds of mezzanine debt, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private.
Cinven is buying CPA from Intermediate Capital Group Plc for about 950 million pounds, the Daily Telegraph reported without saying where it got the information. CPA, which ICG started acquiring in 2010, provides management services for intellectual property rights, patents, designs and trademarks, according to its website.
