Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Pilot Drilling Control Ltd and Smith International Inc (Patent) [2011] UKIntelP o04611 (23 February 2011)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2011/o04611.html
Cite as: [2011] UKIntelP o4611, [2011] UKIntelP o04611
[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Help]
Pilot Drilling Control Ltd and Smith International Inc [2011] UKIntelP o04611 (23 February 2011)
For the whole decision click here: o04611
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/046/11
- Concerning rights in
- GB 2410760
- Hearing Officer
- Mr A C Howard
- Decision date
- 23 February 2011
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Pilot Drilling Control Ltd and Smith International Inc
- Provisions discussed
- Patents Act 1977 Section 118(1); Patents Rules 2007, Rules 53 and 84
- Keywords
- Confidentiality
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The main proceedings relate to a proprietorship dispute. This was a preliminary decision to determine a request by the claimants for the statement and all subsequent papers filed in the proceedings to be kept confidential on the grounds that the reputations of both parties would be damaged if knowledge of the proceedings were to become public. Although the defendants withdrew their initial opposition to the request, they filed no arguments in support of it. The Hearing Officer considered that the usual rule is that proceedings should be public, and a departure from this principle could be justified only in exceptional circumstances. In the present case insufficient evidence of the harm that could result from publicity had been demonstrated. In respect of one document however, redaction of the version available to the public was allowed in the light of specific arguments about the commercial sensitivity of information contained in the respective text.