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The
patent should never be
granted precisely because
of lack of novelty since
it is documented that the
Canopy system had been
implemented in the country
since before the
application was submitted
/ A.M. Costa Rica wire
services photo
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Canadian citizen loses patent
trial for inventing the Canopy
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By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
After a legal process that
lasted more than 20 years, the
Administrative Registry Court
ruled in favor of tourism
businessmen and ratified,
definitively, the nullity of the
patent for the Canopy
invention which had been granted
in 1998 to a Canadian citizen
surnamed Hreniuk
According to the decision of the
judge, several appeals filed by
tourist companies between 1998
and 2003 were declared, revoking
a resolution of the Intellectual
Property Registry, which was in
favor of Hreniuk.
The revocation gave rise to the
actions of nullity of the patent
under the argument that the
alleged invention lacked novelty
and inventiveness.
According to Article 2 of the
Patent Law, "an invention is new
if, before the filing date of
the application, it does not
exist anywhere in the world, so
that its fundamentals have not
been disclosed or put into
practice by any means."
"The patent should never be
granted precisely because of
lack of novelty since it is
documented that the Canopy
system had been implemented in
the country since before the
application was submitted," the
court said in the ruling.
In addition, it was decided by
the Court that "in accordance
with the technical analysis of
the patent expert issued at that
time, upon request, it was not
recommended to grant the patent,
since it lacked industrial
application."
According to the Patent Law, it
says that an invention is
patentable if it meets three
requirements: novelty, inventive
level and industrial application
of the invention.
"Canatur made a commitment to
defend the interests of the
affected businessmen and
represent the sector. With this
final resolution, we closed this
chapter that held the adventure
guild in suspense for many
years," said Sary Valverde
president of the National
Chamber of Tourism (Canatur).
According to Valverde, the
sentence "It gives us the reason
for a patent that should never
have been granted, this comes to
an end giving clarity, legal
security and tranquility to the
sector to continue working."
Lawyer Sergio Artavia, one of
the professionals who advised
the Chamber in this case, said
that "Mr. Hreniuk, cannot charge
the government more than $132
million that he wanted to demand
damages for the right of
collection or royalty."
"Tourism agencies should not pay
any sum for the use of canopy,
because, Mr. Hreniuk is not the
owner of any right and anyone
can use the Canopy system," said
lawyer Artavia. "Therefore, any
person or business that had paid
any amount, may request their
judicial return."
According to the case, in
January 1997, Mr. Hreniuk filed
the application for the granting
of the patent for the invention
of Canopy, which was granted by
the Industrial Property
Registry.
Faced with this situation,
several employers filed a
nullity action against the
patent between November 1998 and
June 2003, alleging that it had
been badly granted because it
lacked novelty and
inventiveness, as there was a
history that the system was
already used in the country.
However, they were rejected by
the same Registry when they
considered that there was a lack
of legitimacy from employers to
request nullity, based on the
idea that they were not holders
of the rights registered in the
registry.
The businessmen appealed against
the rejection of the actions
and, finally, after a series of
legal proceedings, in November
of 2017 the appeals were
admitted for their knowledge and
they were transferred, again, to
the Administrative Registry
Court.
The Court clarified in its
ruling that the nullity action
should not have been rejected
when it was filed in 1998. With
this, the Court gives rise to
actions that annul the patent
definitively. So Mr. Hreniuk
cannot make any kind of request
for annulment of this sentence
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Should the tourist agencies
request a refund of the
money paid as a
royalties? We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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