Sir Nicholas Pumfrey
Op kerstavond 2007 is, veel te vroeg, overleden Sir Nicholas Pumfrey, promiment Engels IE-rechter, vlak na zijn toetreden tot de Court of Appeal. Het is niet alleen een persoonlijk drama en een verlies voor de Engelse octrooirechtspraak. Juist nu in Europa andermaal getracht wordt om tot een efficiëntere manier van geschillenbeslechting in octrooizaken te komen, is dit te vroege overlijden van Sir Nicholas des te pijnlijker. Hij zal zeer worden gemist in de "patent world". Sir Nicholas Pumfrey wordt maandagmiddag in Londen begraven.
Enkele citaten uit zeer lezenswaardige necrologieën in The Times en The Guardian:
“In the IP field Pumfrey found himself deciding a series of complex patent disputes, where he impressed with his mastery of the technology. He tried a number of disputes involving computer architecture and microchip design which were among the most technically challenging cases to come before the Patents Court. He could also turn his hand to other technical fields such as biotechnology. He was always astute to the needs of industry.”
“He was a frequent contributor at the two major international annual IP conferences, the European Patent Judges Forum, and Fordham University Conference in New York. He regularly taught IP law to students at the Max Planck Institute, and was the first UK member of the Enlarged Board of Appeals at the European Patent Office in Munich. His international reputation in the field of IP and his good command of French mean that his future contributions to the current proposals to develop an EU-wide law on patents will be particularly sadly missed.”
“Europe will miss his wisdom too. The European commission is once again engaged in a project to create a patent court after repeated failures, generally for lack of consultation. Nicholas was taking an active part in the discussions. He was, for instance, a speaker at a meeting held in October 2006 by the French cour de cassation on the subject, and, with his experience and near fluent French, he was much wanted.”
