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Robin Jacob

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Robin Jacob
Lord Justice of Appeal
In office
1993–2011
Sir Hugh Laddie Chair
Assumed office
2011
Preceded byHugh Laddie
Personal details
Born
Robert Raphael Hayim Jacob

(1941-04-26) 26 April 1941 (age 83)[1]
OccupationJurist
Websitewww.ucl.ac.uk/laws/people/sir-robin-jacob

Sir Robert Raphael Hayim Jacob, PC (born 26 April 1941), known as Robin Jacob, is a former judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.[2]

Personal life

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Jacob's father was Sir Jack Jacob, a Senior Master of the High Court who is well-known for editing the White Book on civil procedure in the UK.[3]

Education and professional career

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He read Natural Sciences (physics) at Trinity College, Cambridge (1960-1963) and law at the London School of Economics (1963-1967). He was called to the bar by Gray's Inn in 1965 (Treasurer 2007). From 1976 to 1981, he was the Junior Counsel for the Comptroller of Patents and for Government departments in intellectual property.[4] He took silk in 1981. In 1993, he was appointed a High Court judge (a designated Patent Judge) and to the Court of Appeal in 2003.[5]

His primary area of expertise is intellectual property rights. He was admitted to the IP Hall of Fame in 2006.[6] He was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in IP award by MIP in 2012.[7] The position he held before includes member of the Scientific and Advisory Board of the European Patent Office and the European Commission’s Expert Group on the development and implications of patent law in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering.[8] He is the President of the Intellectual Property Judges’ Association (the association of European IP, particularly patent, judges) and the Chairman of the Advisory Board concerning appointment and training of Judges to the Preparatory Committee for the Unified Patent Court (and also a member of the Committee’s Expert Panel).[9]

He retired from the Court of Appeal in March 2011 (acknowledged in a valedictory address[10] before a court-room packed with well-wishers) to take up his current position as the Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property Law at the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law (IBIL), University College London.[11] However, in accordance with section 9 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, he has continued on occasion since that date to sit as a judge in the High Court and the Court of Appeal until April 2015. Jacob is currently a door tenant at 8 New Square Chambers.[12]

In 2018, Jacob took up the post of a Justice at the Astana International Financial Centre in the capital of Kazakhstan.[13]

Selected cases in which Jacob appeared as counsel

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  • Interlego AG v Tyco Industries (Hong Kong) [1988] UKPC 3 - in which he successfully argued that designs for Lego's bricks were not protected by copyright
  • Smith Kline & French Laboratories v Evans Medical [1989] 1 FSR 561 - in which it was held that private acts can infringe upon a patent if they are done for commercial purposes
  • Lux Traffic Controls v Pike Signals [1993] RPC 107 - it was held that a prototype tested publicly such that an observer would be able be to figure out how it worked would be disclosed, and thus constitute prior art

Judgments

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High Court

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  • Henry Brothers (Magherafelt) Ltd v Ministry of Defence [1997] RPC 693 - concerning a patent for a prefabricated blast-proof building designed for use in Northern Ireland during the Troubles
  • Mars UK v Teknowledge [1999] EWHC 226 (Pat) - where he held that the mere fact of encryption will not make information confidential for the purposes of the action for breach of confidence

Court of Appeal

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Publications

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References

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  1. ^ W. Rubinstein; Michael A. Jolles (27 January 2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 464. ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6.
  2. ^ Judiciary of England and Wales, [1], 4 May 2011, not yet updated to reflect his retirement.
  3. ^ Glasser, Cyril (1 January 2001). "Obituaries: Sir Jack Jacob". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ "International Comparative Legal Guides". International Comparative Legal Guides International Business Reports. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  5. ^ "8 New Square - Rt.Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob". Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Robin Jacob – iphalloffame".
  7. ^ "2012". Managing IP Awards 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  8. ^ "International Comparative Legal Guides". International Comparative Legal Guides International Business Reports. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  9. ^ "International Comparative Legal Guides". International Comparative Legal Guides International Business Reports. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Institute of Brand and Innovation Law". Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Members of Chambers". Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  13. ^ "UK royal judge to head AIFC". Kazinform. 7 February 2018.