- 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.