Hungarian Supreme Court: Patent Revocation Decision Before Patent Infringement Proceedings

On October 11, 2010, the Hungarian Supreme Court ruled that a court is obligated to suspend a patent infringement case if the Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) has not reached a decision in the patent revocation proceeding.

In a recent infringement case, the court of first instance decided that the defendant had infringed the plaintiff’s patent. The defendant appealed with the Metropolitan Court of Appeal on the grounds that he had initiated a revocation proceeding against the patent before the HPO. The Metropolitan Court of Appeal suspended the infringement proceeding and the Supreme Court upheld the court’s decision.

According to the EPLAW Patent Blog, this decision is an example of judiciary bifurcation in Hungary. Even though the plaintiff stressed that the defendant has not argued the validity of the patent during the six years of litigation and was deliberately stalling the proceeding, the Supreme Court held that the infringement proceeding must be suspended until the revocation proceeding results in a legally binding decision.

For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.