Pasadena Leather Products CC t/a Pasadena Products and Trifecta Trading 83 (Pty) Ltd t/a Dos Group v Resca and Another

The appellants manufactured and sold a swivel holster for firearms. The respondents were joint proprietors of South African Patent ZA 98/6778, entitled 'A Lockable Holster'. They instituted proceedings in the Court of the Commissioner of Patents alleging that the appellants’ swivel holster infringed claims 1 and 7 of their patent and sought interdictory and monetary relief. The appellants denied infringement and counterclaimed that the patent was invalid under section 25 of the Patents Act 57 of 1978. The court a quo upheld the patent’s validity and found infringement, granting an interdict, delivery up, and an enquiry into damages or royalties. The appellants appealed only against the finding of infringement, not against the validity of the patent.

The appeal succeeded with costs. The order of the court a quo declaring infringement was set aside. The respondents’ claims based on alleged infringement of Patent ZA 98/6778 were dismissed, and the parties were ordered to bear their own costs in the court a quo.

The case is significant for reaffirming the South African approach to patent infringement based on purposive interpretation of claims and the strict requirement that every essential integer be taken. It illustrates the limits of functional similarity in patent law and underscores that patentees are confined to the monopoly defined by the language of their claims.