Facts
Ulrich Steinemann AG, the legal successor of the inventor Walter Zehnder, is the owner of the main Swiss patent No. 339'840 filed on January 26, 1955 and registered on July 15, 1959 for a "device for the application of paint coatings". Theodor Hymmen K.G. produced and delivered similar machines in Switzerland, which led Ulrich Steinemann AG to file a complaint for patent infringement. Theodor Hymmen K.G. then filed a counterclaim for the nullity of the patent. The Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich declared the patent null and void, rejecting the experts' proposal to limit its scope. Ulrich Steinemann AG appealed this decision to the Federal Tribunal.Considerations
1. The Federal Tribunal examines whether the disputed patent meets the conditions of Art. 1 para. 1 PatA, namely whether it relates to a new invention, is industrially applicable, and involves an inventive step. The experts found that the various technical elements claimed in the patent (use of a free-falling paint curtain, adjustment of the height and width of the distribution slot, use of two conveyor belts and recovery chutes, etc.) were already known at the filing date of the patent. They therefore concluded that the patent, in its current form, could not give rise to a patentable invention. 2. The defendant argues that the patent relates to a transposition invention, i.e., the application of a known solution in another technical field. However, the claims of the patent do not define the invention as this transposition, but aim to protect the device as such, regardless of its field of use. The patent cannot therefore be maintained as a patent for a transposition…