Ipl Case Ratio.docx

De leon vs Aguas The validily of the patent issued by the Philippines Patent Office in favor of the private respondent and the question over the inventiveness, novelty and usefulness of the improved process therein specified and described are matters which are better determined by the Philippines Patent Office. The technical staff of the Philippines Patent Office, composed of experts in their field, have, by the issuance of the patent in question, accepted the thinness of the private respondent's new tiles as a discovery. There is a presumption that the Philippines Patent Office has correctly determined the patentability of the improvement by the private respondent of the process in question. The respondent's improvement is indeed inventive and goes beyond the exercise of mechanical skill. He has introduced a new kind of tile for a new purpose. He has improved the old method of making tiles and pre-cast articles which were not satisfactory because of an intolerable number of breakages, especially if deep engravings are made on the tile. He has overcome the problem of producing decorative tiles with deep engraving, but with sufficient durability. 15 Durability inspite of the thinness and lightness of the tile, is assured, provided that a certain critical depth is maintained in relation to the dimensions of the tile

CRESER PRECISION SYSTEMS, INC., petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS AND FLORO INTERNATIONAL CORP It is petitioner's contention that it can file, under Section 42 of the Patent Law (R.A. 165), an action for infringement not as a patentee but as an entity in possession of a right, title or interest in and to the patented invention. It advances the theory that while the absence of a patent may prevent one from lawfully suing another for infringement of said patent, such absence does not bar the first true and actual inventor of the patented invention from suing another who was granted a patent in a suit for declaratory or injunctive relief recognized under American patent laws. This remedy, petitioner points out, may be likened to a civil action for infringement under Section 42 of the Philippine Patent Law. Section 42 of R.A. 165, otherwise known as the Patent Law, explicitly provides: Sec. 42. Civil action for infringement. — Any patentee, or anyone possessing any right, title or interest in and to the patented invention, whose rights have been infringed, may bring a civil action before the proper Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial court), to recover from the infringer

damages sustained by reason of the infringement and to secure an injunction for the protection of his right. . . . Under the aforequoted law, only the patentee or his successors-in-interest may file an action for infringement. The phrase "anyone possessing any right, title or interest in and to the patented invention" upon which petitioner maintains its present suit, refers only to the patentee's successors-in-interest, assignees or grantees since actions for infringement of patent may be brought in the name of the person or persons interested, whether as patentee, assignees, or as grantees, of the exclusive right. 12 Moreover, there can be no infringement of a patent until a patent has been issued, since whatever right one has to the invention covered by the patent arises alone from the grant of patent. 13 In short, a person or entity who has not been granted letters patent over an invention and has not acquired any light or title thereto either as assignee or as licensee, has no cause of action for infringement because the right to maintain an infringement suit depends on the existence of the patent. Under American jurisprudence, an inventor has no common-law right to a monopoly of his invention. He has the right to make, use and vend his own invention, but if he voluntarily discloses it, such as by offering it for sale, the world is free to copy and use it with impunity. A patent, however, gives the inventor the right to exclude all others. As a patentee, he has the exclusive right of making, using or selling the invention. ROBERTO L. DEL ROSARIO, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS AND JANITO CORPORATION, respondents. The Patent Law expressly acknowledges that any new model of implements or tools of any industrial product even if not possessed of the quality of invention but which is of practical utility is entitled to a patent for utility model. 10 Here, there is no dispute that the letters patent issued to petitioner are for utility models of audio equipment. In issuing, reissuing or withholding patents and extensions thereof, the Director of Patents determines whether the patent is new and whether the machine or device is the proper subject of patent. In passing on an application, the Director decides not only questions of law but also questions of fact, i.e. whether there has been a prior public use or sale of the article sought to be patented. 11 Where petitioner introduces the patent in evidence, if it is in due form, it affords a prima facie presumption of its correctness and validity. The decision of the Director of Patents in granting the patent is always presumed to be correct, and the burden then shifts to respondent to overcome this presumption by competent evidence.

It is elementary that a patent may be infringed where the essential or substantial features of the patented invention are taken or appropriated, or the device, machine or other subject matter alleged to infringe is substantially identical with the patented invention. In order to infringe a patent, a machine or device must perform the same function, or accomplish the same result by identical or substantially identical means and the principle or mode of operation must be substantially the same. It may be noted that respondent corporation failed to present before the trial court a clear, competent and reliable comparison between its own model and that of petitioner, and disregarded completely petitioner's utility Model No. 6237 which improved on his first patented model.