Do the courts love IP? More from the UK ... and China

The IPKat recently posted an item which raised the question whether the patents courts in the UK are hostile to patents. He has since received this comment from fellow blogger Peter Groves:

"It struck me that even if they represent only the tip of the iceberg of patent disputes, those cases that come to trial are a significant sample by virtue of the fact that they do come to trial. Perhaps I'm wrong. However, I proceeded to search Bailii for infringement or validity cases dated 2008 and assembled the attached table: which looks to me as if things are fairly evenly balanced, although - of course! - the cases aren't as clear-cut simply valid or not, infringed or not".

Many thanks, Peter, for taking the trouble to supply this.

The Kat has received a new paper, "Intellectual Property Rights Protection in China: Trends in Litigation and Economic Damages", penned by economic consultancy NERA's Senior Consultant Kristina Sepetys and its Senior Vice President Dr Alan Cox. The paper describes the changing role of intellectual property enforcement in an evolving economy such as China’s, as well as the judicial and administrative procedures available for IP enforcement. Drawing upon their own dataset, the authors also examine trends in Chinese damages awards. Unsurprisingly, in the IPKat's opinion -- based on anecdotal rather than systematic data -- authors conclude that IP damages in China are generally too low to compensate owners for their losses or to have any meaningful deterrent effect. But the news is improving: significant damages awards are now being awarded and their frequency is on the rise. A copy of this paper, in English or Chinese, may be obtained from its authors.

Are British patent courts unfriendly to patents?

The IPKat received a query the other day from Eric J. Siecker (Perkins), who wanted to know whether he or any of the other Kats had either any data or views on the following:

"Working as the only European Patent Attorney for a US company which is highly active in the world of patents, quite a few of my American patent attorney colleagues have the impression that the UK courts system is very patent unfriendly. Quite often I hear something like "aren't most patents that go through the courts either found invalid or non-infringed?"  I know that this is not a new view and that plenty of discussions have taken place on this subject matter. However, I would like to get a better handle on the subject and to know if that is (still) true, urban legend or a remnant of the past that may be becoming outdated?"

This member of the IPKat team does have some thoughts on the subject. He feels that many people forget that, unlike the case of the US, the proportion of patent disputes that end up in court is relatively small, since most are settled long before they see trial, and those cases that don’t settle are those where there exists the greatest area of doubt, either concerning validity or infringement. The resulting database of decided cases is in any event statistically insignificant and does not represent the body of disputes from which it is drawn. Merpel adds, the British Courts love patents to pieces -- but, as the old song goes, You Always Hurt The One You Love ...

Urban legends here