Aerotel Ltd. v. Telco Holdings Ltd. and In the Matter of Macrossan

[2006] EWCA (Civ) 1371, [2007] 1 All ER 225 (2006)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
A
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Aerotel Ltd. v. Telco Holdings Ltd. and In the Matter of Macrossan

United Kingdom Supreme Court of Judicature, Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
[2006] EWCA (Civ) 1371, [2007] 1 All ER 225 (2006)

RW

Facts

The United Kingdom (UK) was signatory to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and based its own patent law on the EPC. Aerotel Ltd. (plaintiff) successfully applied for an EPC patent to protect Aerotel’s new system for selling paid telephone calls. The system relied on equipment called a special exchange, which Aerotel specifically devised for this purpose. Otherwise, Aerotel’s system employed conventional telephone technology. Aerotel unsuccessfully sued Telco Holdings Ltd. (Telco) (defendant) for infringing Aerotel’s patent. Meanwhile, Neal Macrossan (plaintiff) applied for a UK patent to protect Macrossan’s new system for using standard interactive computer software to automate and expedite the process of incorporating a business. The UK patent office denied the patent. Macrossan unsuccessfully sued to overturn the patent office’s decision. The UK’s Supreme Court of Judicature, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) consolidated Aerotel’s and Macrossan’s appeals.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Jacob, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Patent

Key Terms