Facts
Company X. GesmbH, an Austrian company specializing in the distribution of induction cookers, brought a nullity action against company Y. AG, the holder of a Swiss patent for an induction cooking device with an abschirmung function. The patent in question concerns an induction cooking device with an abschirmung function that prevents electrical discharges between pots placed on the cooking plate. Company X. GesmbH argued that the patent was null because it did not have an inventive step compared to the state of the art.
The Federal Court was seized of the case after the cantonal courts rejected the nullity claim. Company X. GesmbH argued that the Federal Court had violated Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Federal Act on Patents (PatA) by considering the patent to be valid.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the question of whether the patent in question had an inventive step compared to the state of the art. It considered that the state of the art included all knowledge accessible to the public before the filing date of the patent application. The Federal Court also examined the notion of 'problem-solution' to evaluate the inventive step of the patent.
The Federal Court considered that the combination of known technical features did not necessarily have an inventive step if it did not lead to a new or surprising technical result. It also considered that the 'problem-solution' approach was a possible method for evaluating the inventive step of an…