The Perils Of Culpable Misrepresentation

The recent case of Gallagher Group Ltd v IO Tech Manufacturing (5 August 2013, unreported) may well be one of the most important patent cases in recent times impacting on South African patent validity. Some background to the case is important. South African patent law requires that an applicant for a patent completes a Form P3 declaration in which the patent applicant declares:

• that the inventors of the invention are the persons named as inventors and the applicant has acquired the right to apply for the patent by virtue of a valid transfer of rights from the inventors;
• that to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief, if a patent is granted on the application, there will be no lawful ground for the revocation of the patent; and