DexCom v Abbott (UPC_CFI_395/2023)

Decision date:

11 December 2024

Court

Paris LD

Patent

EP 3 831 282

Full decision available here:

Osborne Clarke summary

Dexcom's patent relating to continuous glucose monitoring devices was revoked for lack of inventive step. On claim interpretation, the Paris LD reminded the parties that the patent claim was the decisive basis for determining the protective scope and validity of the patent. Dexcom's interpretation of the claim was consistent with the description. However, adopting that approach for the purposes of claim interpretation would have led to an incompatibility with the wording of a number of claim features and would have meant using the description and the drawings as explanatory aids for interpretation of the patent claim. The court held that such an approach would not strike the balance between adequate protection for the patent proprietor and sufficient legal certainty for third parties.
Dexcom filed three auxiliary requests to amend claim 1 of the patent in issue, which the court rejected on basis of added matter. The Paris LD applied the EPO's approach to added matter: that is, the "question to be addressed is whether the skilled person considering a claim would be confronted with new technical information based on what was derivable, directly and unambiguously, from the whole contents of the description, claims and figures of the earlier application”.

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