Schlumberger Holdings v Electromagnetic Geoservices [2010] EWCA Civ 819
A dispute about patents for electromagnetic seabed surveying. A key issue in the case was the identity of the person skilled in the art. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal considered this topic in detail, the Court of Appeal giving a judgment, as surprising as it was unexpected, that the person skilled in the art could be different for the purposes of obviousness and sufficiency. This was despite Jacob LJ, the leading member of the Court of Appeal on this case, having said the exact opposite previously. The case settled on appeal to the Supreme Court so the correctness of the Court of Appeal decision remains unresolved. Reported at [2010] RPC 33 (CA) and [2009] RPC 19 (HC).