Biogen Inc v. Medeva Plc [1996] UKHL 18 (31 October 1996)
Citation:Biogen Inc v. Medeva Plc [1996] UKHL 18 (31 October 1996)
Rule of thumb:If a Judge has inferred facts spoken by a witness in a trial, can these facts be overturned? No, it is virtually impossible to overturn these facts, and it is only facts contradicted by clear documentary evidence which can be overturned.
Rule of thumb:How does a Judge infer facts from a trial? It is an imprecise science. Assess everything, weigh it all up, identify key evidence, and give a nuanced evaluation on the facts.
Judgment:
Judges in appeal Courts should be reluctant to reverse the findings of fact by the Judge at first instance in patent applications – the inferring of facts is a complex weighing up exercise – it must only be clear & obvious errors contradicted by clear documentary evidence or which are physically impossible which should be overturned.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘appellate caution for reversing the Judge’s evaluation of the facts is based upon much more solid grounds than professional courtesy. It is because specific findings of fact, even by the most meticulous Judge, are inherently an incomplete statement of the impression which was made upon him by the primary evidence. His expressed findings are always surrounded by a penumbra of imprecision at to emphasis, relative weight, minor qualification and nuance, to which time and language do not permit exact expression, but which may play an important part in the Judge’s overall evaluation...’ Lord Mustill, at 31
‘Where the application of a legal standard such as negligence or obviousness involves no question of principle but is simply a matter of degree, an appellate Court should be very cautious in differing from the Judge’s evaluation... the first person to find a way of achieving an obviously desirable goal is not permitted to monopolise every other way of doing it’, at 45, Lord Hoffman
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.