Patents
Opinions on Validity of UK Patents – UKIPO given revocation powers
November 2014
News - Patents
Once a patent has been granted it can usually only be challenged through formal litigation in the Courts or at the Intellectual Property Office, which is expensive, time consuming and stressful. In addition, attacking a competitor’s patent can result in a counter-claim for infringement. These issues create significant commercial obstacles to challenging what might be considered an invalid patent.…
EU Unitary Patent
November 2014
News - Patents
EU Unitary Patent Summary By a large majority, the EU Parliament on 11 December 2012 voted to approve legislation that enables implementation of the Unitary Patent, a single EU-wide (well almost) patent. The approval was (and still is) hoped to bring to a a conclusion some 40 years of debate, negotiation and compromise. While there are still some obstacles in the way of actual implementation…
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Assignments in practice
November 2011 News - Patents -
UKIPO: Mental Acts and Computer Programs
October 2011 News - Patents -
Will there be a European Community Patent?
March 2011 News - Patents -
Patent Prosecution Highway
October 2010 News - Patents
Trade Marks
Barking mad? EU General Court dilutes protection afforded by composite marks
July 2013
News - Trade Marks
A recent decision of the General Court of the European Union sheds lights on the scope of protection for trade marks consisting of words and pictorial devices. A trade mark may consist of or include both word and design elements. The benefit of a non-verbal…
Other IP News
Changes to IP Enforcement in the UK
March 2011
News - Intellectual Property
The Patents County Court (“PCC”) was established in 1990 to provide small to medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) with an alternative, lower cost forum to the Patents Court, a branch of the Chancery Division of the High Court. Unfortunately the PCC was not…