A company had bought another and, with it patents assigned to it by the inventor. In addition they obtained an agreement from the inventor not to compete, which agreement they now sought to enforce.
Held: The inventor’s appeal was upheld. The judge had failed properly to allow for the statutory context. Patents law set a balance of rights, granting a monopoly as a way of encouraging invention. It would be a wholly exceptional case where restraints on a person capable of making a real contribution to the development of science could be justified, and that monopoly right extended. Those restraints here, were unenforceable on the grounds of public policy.
Judges:
Woolf, LCJ, Brooke, Chadwick LJJ
Citations:
Times 03-Dec-2002
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Intellectual Property, Commercial
Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.178321