ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: David Gilat and Matan Kovacs, Gilat, Bareket & Co, Reinhold Cohn Group
to the part of the infringement that is not subject to limitations. Conversely, there are no limitation periods with regard to validity challenges, either as a defence against an infringement action or as part of a motion for revocation filed with the Patent Office; as long as a patent is alive, its validity may be challenged. Acquiescence Even if a given cause of action for infringement has not yet prescribed (ie, become time-barred), it is possible that the defendant will raise an argu - ment of acquiescence against it if the defendant is able to show that the plaintiff had actively pro - vided a representation of waiving its cause of action; it is possible that the action would be rejected due to estoppel. Effecting Service in Actions Before the Court Under Israeli law, a court acquires jurisdiction by way of effecting service. There are several ways to effect service on a defendant: a copy of the statement of claim, which includes summons, may be served on the defendant themselves, at their home or at their place of business, either via courier or via registered mail, on an adult family member living with them, on a person author - ised to manage their business, or on their coun - sel. Where the defendant is a company, service is usually effected by delivering a copy of the statement of claim to their registered place of business. In those cases where the defendant is not Israeli, leave for service outside the jurisdic - tion would need to be secured, though it would also be possible to effect service by serving the claim on the foreign entity’s business manager in Israel (if such exists). Service should be carried out immediately upon filing and no later than three days from the date
of the filing. While a plaintiff may choose to wait the entire three-day period, doing so would mean that the 60-day period to file a statement of defence would be counted from the date of actual service. Effecting Service in Nullity Proceedings Before the Patent Office Where proceedings before the Patent Office are concerned, the Patent Office would advise the patent owner of the filing of the motion for revo - cation using the “address for service” recorded on the Register, and the applicant may do the same, thus effecting service. Duration of Proceedings on the Merits Both infringement and nullity proceedings can take anywhere between 24 and 36 months and sometimes even longer. If the case is heard before a court, the parties would first exchange pleadings (a statement of claim, a statement of defence, and a statement in reply), conduct discovery proceedings, file their evidence, appear for trial (cross-examina - tions), and then file their summations, following which a decision would be handed down by the court. In addition, motion practice is likely to take place, covering subjects such as discovery disputes, the responsiveness of evidence, filing of additional evidence, production of witnesses, and extensions of time. The exchange of pleadings will take, in most cases, between three and nine months. Discov - ery may take an additional six months, while the production of evidence would take a year to eighteen months. The trial will usually not take more than a week or two, with summations tak- ing up to a year.
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