Point of law: whether the invention previously patented in a foreign state ought to be taken into account when determining the level of technique within the procedure of consideration of patent application with regard to a supposedly equivalent invention?

Ratio decidendi: the Presidium gave a positive answer to this question. In the opinion of the Presidium, the data which makes up the level of technique and is subject to the verification by experts should not be restricted by any territorial limits.  It is exactly “the worldwide novelty” of the invention which is subject to assessment. Consequently, the conclusion of experts saying that in the level of technique which existed as of the date of submission of application in Russia there was no any technical solution having the features identical to those from the formula of the invention under consideration should imply that the invention already patented in foreign states cannot be subsequently recognised as equivalent to the invention being patented in Russia.

Practical consequences: the Judgment says that prior court decisions in analogous cases if inconsistent with this interpretation may be reversed in the procedure and within the limits envisaged by Art 311 of the Commercial Procedure Code.