Basic Holdings ULC v. Afire NL-BE et al. District Court The Hague, The Netherlands, 16 February 2022, Case no. ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2022:1081

Basic holds EP 2 029 941 B1 entitled “Artificial Fireplace” and alleges that Afire infringes its patent by marketing certain artificial fireplaces.

The Court rules that: “The claimed feature ‘apertured bed’ is, as Afire et al. stated, described in paragraphs [0018] to [0020] of EP 941. In paragraph [0018] it is described as “to mean and/or include a body, mass or assembly having gaps or apertures” [underlining court] through which vapor (…) may pass. This part of the description is therefore concerned with multiple openings, not just one.

“In the view of the court, it cannot be concluded that the AW decorative fireplace with one slit falls under the scope of protection of independent claim 1.”

A copy of the decision (in Dutch) can be read here.