Wragge & Co LLP IP team has secured a hard-fought Court of Appeal victory for Cinpres in the long-running Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd v Melea Ltd case.

The Court of Appeal found that the register of patents is not "final" as regards an indication of ownership – it may in fact be not much more than a rebuttable presumption.

IP lawyer Gordon Harris represented Cinpres at the High Court and Court of Appeal, supported by associates Kate Swaine and Claire O'Brien, and Sian Mackenzie. The Wragge & Co team worked closely with Geoffrey Bayliss of Boult Wade Tennant and barristers Jessie Bowhill and Peter Prescott QC.

Gordon Harris said: "This 18-year battle is the longest-running dispute in the English patents courts, involving complex and ground-breaking legal judgments. We always believed that the judgment in 1996 was a great injustice and it is hugely satisfying finally to secure victory for Cinpres."

The central issue concerns entitlement to a patent for gas-assisted plastic injection moulding technology. Litigation commenced in 1991 and was heard in the Patent Office in 1996. It reached the Court of Appeal in 1998 with Melea prevailing on the back of what turned out to be perjured evidence from the alleged inventor, James Hendry.

Hendry admitted his perjury in 2001 and new proceedings commenced to overturn the original proceedings. In 2006 the High Court found that although Hendry had perjured himself in 1996 the invention was made at Cinpres. Melea was not tainted by the perjury of its witness. The original judgment could not be overturned.

The case reached the Court of Appeal in 2007. It decided that even if Melea didn't know Hendry was lying - they were "comrades in arms". As such Melea could not evade the implications of the perjury, namely that Cinpres was and always had been, the legitimate owner of the patent.

Cinpres is a leading provider of equipment, technology and customer support services for gas assisted moulded technology. Based in the UK, it has an established network of distributors and agents worldwide, including South East Asia, North America and Pacific Rim countries.

Nabarro Nathanson represented Melea, with Iain Purvis QC and Benet Brandreth.

Wragge & Co's 41-lawyer IP Team is one of the UK's top-tier IP practices, delivering advice on contentious and non-contentious matters to UK and multinational organisations. Clients include British Airways, Marks & Spencer, Unilever, Birds Eye, Microsoft and Kingspan. Highlights include significant victories for Dyson and Ultraframe in high profile disputes. In 2007, the team was judged as Managing Intellectual Property's UK law firm of the year.

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This press release may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.