Court costs ruling

Environmental Recycling Technologies plc

ERT court cost ruling

Environmental Recycling Technologies plc ("ERT"), which has developed and commercialised the patented rights to the Powder Impression Moulding ("PIM") process which converts mixed waste plastics into commercially viable end products, announces that the UK Patent County Court has today ruled in respect of costs in an action brought by ERT against the grant of a patent, which it believed infringed its core PIM process technology. While the court decided that in principle the costs of the case should be awarded to the defendant, the court has rejected the defendant's arguments that the cap on costs in the Patent County Court should be lifted and that the claim made amounted to abuse of process.

The ruling successfully brings to a close an action brought by ERT against the grant of a patent, which it believed infringed its core PIM process technology. The conclusion of the judgement is that of all the claims made in the defendant's patent, none have been considered innovative or inventive over ERT's patents with the exception of the use of a manually inserted former which was referred to during court proceedings as "a crazy solution to a non-existent problem".

This restriction of the defendant's patent to a manually inserted former led to the Court to award the defendant costs. These are still to be assessed.

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