Respondemos todas aquellas dudas referentes a los diferentes procesos implicados en la propiedad industrial.
The right granted by the patent does not protect the claimed invention alone, but also the "equivalents"; that is, protection is given taking into account not only the content of the claims, supported by the description and the drawings, but also what is considered equivalent: a medium is considered equivalent if it has the same function, method and results.
Generally speaking, Spanish law stipulates that the burden of proof should fall on the claimant (Art.217.2 of the Spanish Civil Procedure Act, Law 1/2000).
However, in certain cases the burden of proof is reversed, that is, it falls on the defendant.
Therefore, in the case provided for in Article 61.2 of the Patents Act (Law 11/1986), if the object of a patent is a procedure for producing new products or substances, it is assumed, unless proven otherwise, that all products and substances with the same characteristics have been obtained by means of the patented procedure. This means that the defendant will have to prove that the product has been obtained by means of a procedure different from the patented procedure.
Articles 133 to 139 of the Spanish Patents Act 11/1986 list all the precautionary measures.
Bear in mind that Spanish case law stipulates three requirements for adopting precautionary measures:
- legal credibility (fumus boni iuris)
- danger in delay (periculum in mora)
- granting of surety
In the countries where the invention is not protected, it is considered to be of public domain and anyone can exploit it freely. That is why it is important to patent in all the countries where the invention is to be commercialised.