In Sweden on 28 October, the Court of Appeal in Stockholm made its ruling in the patent dispute between Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB and Sandvik Tamrock Corp.
The court concluded that Atlas Copco had not infringed the disputed patents.
In April 2001, Sandvik had filed a complaint based on two alleged patent infringements; one relating to the method of guiding the drilling process and the other about how the electronic memories are dealt with in modern drill rigs. The first patent was declared invalid in Sweden as it “lacked degree of invention” and the court ruled that no infringement had been made with regards the second patent.
Sandvik’s counsel said it, “had hoped for a ruling that correlated with the general practice of the European Patent Office, but we are also aware that this is a complicated case”. The firm now plans to review the court findings in more detail.
