EIT arvioi patenttioikeudenkäynnin oikeudenmukaisuutta

Osapuolet eivät saaneet nähtäväkseen käräjäoikeuden asiantuntijoiden lausuntoja ennen tuomiota

According to section 66 of the Patents Act (patenttilaki, patentlagen, Act no.
550/1967, as in force at the material time), when examining a patent
matter the District Court was to be assisted by two technical experts to
be appointed by the court. The experts were to give their views on the
matters submitted to them by the court. Their views were entered in the
record and they were entitled to question the parties and witnesses.

It
appears from the Government proposal HE 124/2012 vp that the practice
at the time was that the experts practically always gave their statement
after the conclusion of the oral hearing. The parties to the
proceedings were not given a possibility to comment on the experts’
statement.

This
state of affairs changed when the Patents Act was amended with effect
from 1 September 2013 (Act no. 101/2013). According to the new section
66c of the Act, the District Court shall provide the parties a
possibility to comment on the statement of the experts before deciding
the case. According to the transitional provisions, if such a matter has
already become pending in a District Court before the entry into force
of the amendment, the previous provision is applicable.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the
determination of his civil rights and obligations, in accordance with
Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, was the applicant’s
right to adversarial proceedings respected as regards his possibility to
comment on the expert statement prepared for the District Court?

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-145427