Britax v Infa-Secure

Case: Britax Childcare Pty Ltd v Infa-Secure Pty Ltd (No 4) [2015] FCA 651 (30 June 2015) 

Date: 30 June 2015

Middleton J.

Notes:

  1. Claim Construction
  2. Expert witnesses
  3. External fair basis (note that the new Act makes this less relevant now)
  4. Internal fair basis ( " )
  5. Novelty - Some really good basic principles.
  6. Interpretation of various words and phrases.
  7. "Adapted to" means "Capable of". Be careful of functional phrases like this. Check utility.
  8. "Highly qualified experts, even if they have a capacity for original research, should not on that basis be disqualified from assisting the Court".
  9. Definition of a skilled addressee.
  10. Use of expert evidence in determining validity issues.
  11. Hindsight and Common General Knowledge.
  12. Innovative Step.
  13. Inventive Step.
  14. Meaning of obvious - "very plain".
  15. The need to lead evidence that prior art "would have been reasonably able to have been ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant in Australia by a person skilled in the art when seeking a solution to the problem the invention seeks to overcome."
  16. Utility - to be established by evidence. Some good case law here. Read the section entitled "Expert Evidence".
  17. Clarity - use of imprecise terms. Skilled address must be able to resolve ambiguity.



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