The king’s power to create corporations and to order trade did not include a power to make a monopoly, for that is to take away free trade which is the birthright of every subject. A trader creating a new invention could be granted a charter by the king allowing him sole use of it for a set period of time, but when that patent expired, it could not be renewed. A copporation could not be the judge of whether its patent had been breached, for that would make it judge and jury in its own cause, and the King could not grant unto another the power to do a thing which was against the law.
Citations:
(1614) Godb 252
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Oakley Inc v Animal Ltd and others PatC 17-Feb-2005
A design for sunglasses was challenged for prior publication. However the law in England differed from that apparently imposed from Europe as to the existence of a 12 month period of grace before applying for registration.
Held: Instruments . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Commercial, Intellectual Property
Updated: 26 November 2022; Ref: scu.222832