Omnibus claims are added to patents in some
jurisdictions as a catch all warning to potential infringers. They
generally take the form of "the product/method substantially
as described with reference to the drawings and/or
examples".
In the recent case of Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (UK) Ltd
v GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Ltd (No 5) [2015] FCA 486, the
trial judge found for the defendant, that all the claims were not
infringed, except one, being the omnibus claim.
The case dealt with flat-nosed syringes used in dispensing
medications from bottles. GlaxoSmithKline had proposed an
alternative design that skilfully avoided the language limitations
of all of the patentee's main claims. The judge carefully
examined the authorities on omnibus claims, which pointed to such
claims being a catch all, which appeared to be aligned with a
doctrine of equivalents argument familiar to those practising in
the United States. The judge found that the defendant had taken
