This is a short judgment, but it tells a useful commercial story. v2food wanted a patent for food colouring agents. Provectus had successfully opposed the patent before the Patent Office delegate on lack of inventive step. Once the matter reached the Federal Court, though, the appeal was heard afresh. That meant the Court needed evidence in front of it to uphold the opposition.
The opponent did not actively run the appeal. The Commissioner also did not participate. The Court held that, because the opponent bore the onus and no supporting evidence had been filed in the Court, the opposition could not be upheld. The patent application was allowed to proceed to grant. Importantly, the Court also noted that this did not stop a later validity challenge.
For businesses, the lesson is procedural but important. IP disputes are not only about who has the better technical argument in the abstract. They are about evidence, onus, timing and forum. If you oppose a competitor's patent, you need to be ready to support the grounds at each stage. If you are the applicant and an opposition appeal becomes uncontested, that may help, but it does not make the patent immune from future attack.
Commercialising, licensing or raising money around the patent still needs a clear view of validity risk.