INFORMATION FROM THE CONTRACTING / EXTENSION STATES
NL Netherlands
Decision of the Hoge Raad (Supreme Court) dated 13 January 1995
(Ciba Geigy AG v. Oté Optics B.V.)*
Headword: Contact lens liquid
Article 30(2) Patent Act 19771
Article 69 EPC and Protocol on Interpretation
Keyword: "Extent of protection conferred by a patent - Consideration of grant file when determining extent of protection"
Headnote
1. For the purpose of determining the extent of protection conferred by a patent, that part of the patent grant file accessible to third parties may be considered only if the average skilled person, after examining the description and the drawings of the patent, still has reasonable doubt as to the interpretation to be given to the claims.
2. As a general rule, the patent proprietor is accountable for the ambiguity caused by inaccurate formulation of the patent specification. Under certain circumstances, however, the public part of the grant file may be considered for the patent proprietor's benefit.
NL 1/98