Huntsman International v Ungría Patentes y Marcas et al., Spanish Supreme Court, Civil Chamber, 26 January 2017, Judgment No 46/2017

Huntsman International, LLC. (‘Huntsman’) filed a suit against Ungría Patentes y Marcas, SA (‘Ungría’), and against Samuel, an industrial property agent who was both the administrator and the majority shareholder of the company. Huntsman claimed civil liability for the defendants’ negligence who let the patent expire.

The Technical University of Valencia (‘UPV’) and the State Council for Scientific Research (‘CSIC’) applied to the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office for a patent called ‘ITQ-18’. The patent was granted on December 21st, 2001. Ungría was awarded an administrative contract with both entities, Samuel becoming the industrial property agent in charged of the patent. Later on, UPV and CSIC signed a non-exclusive license agreement on the same patent with Huntsman.

The complete summary can be read here.

A copy of the case (in Spanish) can be read here.

Summary: Luis Fernández-Novoa, HOYNG ROKH MONEGIER