Lux Traffic Control Ltd v Pike Signals Ltd and Faronwise Ltd, 1993 RPC 107

Citation:Lux Traffic Control Ltd v Pike Signals Ltd and Faronwise Ltd, 1993 RPC 107

Rule of thumb: If an invention has already been converted into a product, and either the product itself or how to build the product is in the public domain, can you still get a patent for this? No, once the idea or product is released into the public domain the right to get a patent for it is lost. This is the first piece of legal advice to be given to any inventor of a new product.

Judgment:

The basic facts of this case were that there was apparatus which allowed traffic lights to change if there was cars nearby them or not. The Court did grant a patent for this on the basis that this had been in use in the public domain for a long time, although it was stated that this could have been patentable in itself, ‘There is a difference between circumstances where the public have an article in their possession to handle, measure and test and where they can only look at it. What is made available to the public will often differ in the circumstances. In the latter case it could be nothing material; whereas in the former the public would have had the opportunity of a complete examination... In other terms, novelty is destroyed by prior use of a product if analysis of the product using available techniques shows the skilled person that it falls within the scope of the claims of the subsequent application... the field expressly excluded by the section concerns mere ideas not normally thought to be the proper subject for patents which are concerned with manufacturing’, Aldous J

Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.