DLP Limited v Coram UK Holding Limited [2026] EWHC 2448 (IPEC)
This was the trial of a claim for patent infringement relating to shower-waste pumps. The Claimant alleged that two products marketed by the Defendant, known as the “Premium Pump” and “Bluetooth Pump”, infringed its patent GB 2,446,666 (“the Patent”).
The Defendant denied that its products infringed the claims of the Patent and counterclaimed for invalidity on the basis of lack of novelty and lack of inventive step, relying on two prior art documents and one prior art product. Proposed amendments to the claims of the Patent were resisted by the Defendant on grounds of added matter.
Following a two day trial before Mr David Stone (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge), both the claim and counterclaim were dismissed.
In relation to the claim, the Judge found that on a proper construction of claim 1 of the Patent, the Premium Pump and Bluetooth Pump products did not satisfy the requirements for a “removable non-watertight housing cover for closing the housing”.
In relation to the counterclaim, the allegation of lack of novelty was withdrawn, and the Judge rejected the Defendant’s arguments that the claimed shower waste pump was an obvious modification of the prior art citations. The Judge took into account that the steps said to have been obvious had not been taken despite a prior art product having been known to designers for several years before the priority date of the Patent. An attack on the Claimant’s expert’s impartiality was rejected.
The Judge held that, had the proposed amendments to the Patent been necessary, they would not have resulted in added matter.
David Ivison represented the Claimant.