SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Håkan Borgenhäll, Malin Malm Waerme, Åsa Hellstadius and Arvid Axelryd, Advokatfirman Vinge KB
invention and prevent the allegedly invalid patent from being revoked or cancelled. The court then reviews whether the amended patent claims meet the requirements for patentability, and that the amendment de facto entails a limitation of the scope of the patent protection. 4.4 Revocation/Cancellation and Infringement The Patent and Market Court has exclusive jurisdiction in cases regarding patent infringe- ment and patent revocation/cancellation. Since the two separate cases are brought before the same court, the rule is that they are joined and heard together if it is beneficial for the conduct of the proceedings. 5. Trial and Settlement 5.1 Special Procedural Provisions for Intellectual Property Rights There are some special procedural provisions in the Patents Act (eg, regarding the competent court) and the Patent and Market Courts Act (eg, regarding the panel of judges and restric- tions on the possibility of appeal). However, the procedure in patent proceedings is very similar to other civil court proceedings. Most proce- dural provisions are found in general provisions in either the Code of Judicial Procedure or the Court Matters Act. The Patent and Market Court (the first instance court) aims to render a judgment within one year from the summons application. The typical timeline in patent proceedings is that the statement of defence is ordered to be submitted within one month from the serving of the summons. Thereafter, the parties exchange a couple of submissions before the court sched-
ules a case management meeting. After the case management meeting, there will be some addi- tional exchanges of submissions until a certain date set by the court where the parties must submit their respective final statements of evi- dence. The cases are normally declared closed (ie, the point after which no new evidence or cir- cumstances shall be invoked) one to two months prior to the hearing. With regards to the Patent and Market Court of Appeal (second instance court) the timeline is also approximately one year in normal cases; ie, one year from appeal to the main hearing in the appeal court. In very rare situations, a patent case can be tried by the Supreme Court of Sweden (see 2.3 Courts With Jurisdiction ). The timeline for a case in the Supreme Court varies, but, as a main rule, it will be concluded by the court within a year. The court proceedings consist of one main hear- ing in each respective instance. During the main hearing in the first instance, both fact witnesses and experts are typically heard by direct exami- nation and cross-examination. If a case is appealed, the main rule is that the examinations are reviewed by the appeal court by looking at video recordings of the examina- tions in the court of first instance. All remedies requested in an action are, as a main rule, decided on in the same judgment. It is, however, quite common in patent infringe- ment cases that the claimant seeks a declaratory judgment in relation to damages; ie, a request that the court shall declare that the defendant is liable for damages resulting from an infringement (without substantiating the amount of damages suffered as a result of the infringement). The
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