A Patent Claim from the Isle of Man

Author: Raimond Spekking, Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

On 2 Sept 2026, I published Intellectual Property Law in the Isle of Man in NIPC Northwest.  It made 520 impressions, prompted 11 reactions and drew the following comment from Timothy Powell: "VERY interesting, Jane. What chance a copyright case might come up there?"

Not long after Tim asked that question, Mr David Stone handed down judgment in DLP Limited v Coram UK Holding Limited [2026] EWHC 2448.  This was a patent case in which the patentee was a company that had been incorporated and was doing business in the Isle of Man. The patent was for a Shower waste pump and control unit. The patentee alleged that two of the defendant company's products infringed its patent. The defendant denied infringement and counterclaimed for revocation of the patent on the grounds that the invention was obvious and not new.  Mr Stone tried the action and counterclaim in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court on 21 and 22 July.   He found that the patent was valid but not infringed, which meant that neither side had won.   I wrote about the case yesterday in Patents - DLP Ltd v Coram UK Holding Ltd. in NIPC Law.

Mr Stone's judgment is well worth reading, especially if you are new to patents, because the learned deputy judge reviewed all the relevant authorities on construing claims and obviousness.  The technology is easy to understand. Indeed, the simplicity of the technology was one of the points in the case because it prompted Mr Stone to note that avoiding hindsight is a particularly acute concern in the case of relatively simple inventions.   My case note is no substitute for the transcript of Mr Stone's judgment, but it should help readers to navigate and understand it.

The Isle of Man tends to be associated with tourism, motorcycle racing and offshore banking, but manufacturing accounts for 11% of local employment and 5%  of GDP according to Wikipedia.  There are strong aerospace, defence, engineering, fintech, food and drink and ICT businesses on the island.  These are sectors that tend to develop products and processes that require legal protection.  Annual Research Festivals are promoted by the recently incorporated University College of the Isle of Man. For all these reasons, DLP Limited v Coram UK Holding Limited is unlikely to be the last patent case involving a patentee from the Isle of Man.

The coin in the photo shows one of the tailless cats that are native to the Isle of Man.  I was looking out for those animals on a recent holiday there.  Although I saw several magnificent cats, they all had full tails. I expressed my disappointment to the owner of my Airbnb and was referred to a nearby Mann Cat Sanctuary. The sanctuary cares for all kinds of felines and not just tailless ones. It also caters for dogs, ducks and a donkey.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or intellectual property generally may call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during UK office hours or send me a message through my contact form at any time.