Case No. IP-2016-000202

1.This action is in the field of cable TV and internet services. The First Claimant is the proprietor of UK Patent No. 2 382 473 B. The other two Claimants are licensees. For the most part it not necessary for me to distinguish the three Claimants, so I will refer to them collectively as ‘Technetix’. 2.Technetix allege that the patent has been infringed by the Defendant (‘Teleste’) in the course of marketing equipment used to feed cable TV or internet signals to subscribers. Teleste has counterclaimed for revocation of the patent because of alleged lack of novelty and inventive step. 3.Technetix did not seek to uphold the patent as granted, making an unconditional application to amend. Teleste resists the amendment, by the time of trial only on the ground that the patent as amended would remain invalid for the same reasons. The trial was conducted by reference to the patent as proposed to be amended. Hereafter my references to ‘the Patent’ will mean the patent as if it has always existed in its proposed amended form. The Patent has a filing date of 21 November 2001 and no priority date. 4.Technetix accept that if claim 1 is invalid over the cited prior art, none of the other claims are valid. I need only consider claim 1. 5.Adam Gamsa appeared for Technetix, Mark Chacksfield and Thomas Jones for Teleste.