Extending Recent Promised Utility Doctrine Beyond Pharmaceutical And Chemical Cases

On January 30, 2012, the Federal Court released its decision in Eurocopter v. Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limitée ("Bell") (2012 FC 113). It held one claim of the patent was valid and infringed. The patent relates to a skid-type landing gear for helicopters.

In the April 4, 2012 edition of IP Report, the significance of the punitive damages awarded by Justice Martineau was discussed. In this follow-up article, we discuss another interesting aspect: the validity challenge relating to utility. While Justice Martineau upheld the patent's validity, he found several claims invalid for lack of utility.

Significantly, Justice Martineau employed the "promised utility" framework recently developed in pharmaceutical cases in this mechanical context. He began his utility analysis by construing the "promise" of the patent.