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News and commentary on IP issues

UK Patents – Is a Neural Network a Computer Program

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The UK court case over Emotional Perception's patent application is set to continue into next year. The UK Supreme Court will consider the case and, we expect, be asked to decide what is a computer program. Earlier the year, we reported on Emotional Perception's success in the High Court, persuading the Judge that because an artificial neural netwo...
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UK IPO launches new SME financial support scheme, IP Advance

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In welcome news for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the UK Intellectual Property office (IPO) has launched "IP Advance", a new financial support scheme which offers SMEs a helping hand in understanding and commercialising their intellectual property (IP) assets. The scheme has two tiers of funding, and businesses can apply to either one,...
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Romania to become 18th Unitary Patent state

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Romania has ratified the Unitary Patent Court Agreement and deposited its ratification. It will become the 18th member state of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on 01 September 2024, and Unitary Patents registered on or after this date will also include Romania.  As highlighted in our related article, this does not have retrospective effect...
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Not all Unitary Patents are created equal

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18 UP states Romania becomes 18th Unitary Patent state
Different Unitary Patents can have different geographical coverage. The Unitary Patent states are fixed when a Unitary Patent is registered during the grant stage of a European patent. Countries that subsequently become Unitary Patent states are not retrospectively added. This is in stark contrast to European Trade Marks and Designs where...
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European Patent Office Launches New Fee Reduction Scheme to Support Micro-Entities

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In good news for individuals and smaller businesses with little experience of the European patent system, the European Patent Office will shortly be introducing additional discounts on some of its fees for certain applicants. However, there are strict and complex requirements on eligibility and caution should be used in deciding whether or not...
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European Patent Office Fees increase from 1 April 2024

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The European Patent Office has announced increases to a number of its fees. The increases become effective on any payment made from 1 April 2024 onward. Many, such as the increases to the search, examination and grant fees are modest. However, the renewal fees payable in years 3-5 of a European patent application will increase&n...
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Validation of European Patents in Georgia

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On 15 January 2024, the Republic of Georgia will become the 45th country in which patent protection may be obtained via a European patent. The "validation" agreement between Georgia and the European Patent Organisation was signed on 31 October 2019, and will come into force this month. The European Patent Organisation currently has 39 Member States...
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UK Patentability for Artificial Intelligence

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The UK High Court has issued an important ruling in Emotional Perception AI Ltd v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, overruling the UK IPO and deciding that trained artificial neural networks (ANNs) do not fall under the "program for a computer" exclusion of section 1(2)(c) of the Patents Act 1977. The UK I...
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UK Supreme Court Judgement on DABUS as an inventor

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Today, 20th December 2023, the UK Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in this case, dismissing Dr Thaler's appeal. On the Issue of Patentability The UK Supreme Court has held that: "…DABUS, a machine with no legal personality, is not and has never been an inventor within the meaning of the 1977 Act. This is more than a formal objection.It go...
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Right to priority in European Patent Applications - EPO decides there is a rebuttable presumption of validity

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The Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office (EPO) has now issued its written decision in consolidated cases G1/22 and G2/22. The Enlarged Board of Appeal concludes that the EPO is competent to assess priority entitlement and that there is a rebuttable presumption that an applicant claiming priority in accordance with the formal requi...
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Goodbye to the "Ten Day Rule" at the EPO

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The EPO's idiosyncratic "ten day rule" relevant to calculating notified deadlines is being abolished in November. Many a European patent attorney has been thankful for the EPO's ten day rule after receipt of very late instructions to proceed with filing a response. This peculiarity of EPO practice has its origin in the days of postal ...
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Plausibility at the EPO - Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G2/21

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The long-awaited Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G2/21 has finally been issued. It confirms that evidence submitted in support of inventive step cannot be disregarded solely on the ground that such evidence had not been public before the filing date and was only filed after that date. The background to this Decision and the referral to the E...
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Practical Tips for Patenting Antibodies in Europe

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The patenting of proteins is well established in Europe as long as they meet the requirements of novelty and inventive step.Antibodies are a specific type of protein, and to obtain useful patent protection for these, there are specific requirements to take into consideration.We have previously written about the European Patent Office's Guidelines f...
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Developing Drugs for Developing World Diseases: The Role of Patents

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The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the issue of patents for medicines (in particular vaccines in the case of Covid) to the fore.From the debate surrounding enhancing distribution of Covid vaccines in the developing world by implementing a patent waiver, it is clear that the oft-heard argument that intellectual property to protect such vital products...
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The Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent are coming

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The long-awaited Unified Patent Court opens its doors on 1 June 2023 now that Germany has ratified the UPC Agreement. Alongside this, patents granted at the European Patent Office will be able to be registered for a single Unitary right covering certain EU member states (in addition to other states being individually registered separately in the co...
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DABUS at the UK's Supreme Court - inventorship of AI created inventions to be decided

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On 2 March 2023, Robert Jehan and Dr Ryan Abbott will appear before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to argue that the Patents Act 1977 can permit the granting of patents for the DABUS patent applications. The appellant, Dr Thaler, created an Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine known as DABUS that in turn, in the absence of a traditional hu...
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EPO Board of Appeal Decision J0008/20 on AI Inventor DABUS - Commentary by Robert Jehan

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On 6 July 2022 the European Patent Office's Legal Board of Appeal published its reasoned decision J0008/20 explaining why it refused Dr Thaler's appeal at the end of the oral proceedings held on 21 December 2021. The decision establishes very important principles in law in relation to the patentability of inventions created by AI systems, that...
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Williams Powell wins MIP award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team

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We are delighted to announce that Williams Powell was presented with the special award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team of the Year for the Stephen Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (DABUS) case at the prestigious Managing IP Awards on 15 June 2022. Williams Powell was recognised for the work of Robert ...
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Sequence Listings Looking Towards the "Big Bang"

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The beginning of July sees a shake up in how sequence listings are to be presented in patent applications around the world. After almost 25 years, WIPO has updated its standard from ST.25 to ST.26, and relevant patent applications at the International Bureau and in all WIPO contracting states (including both the EPO and the UK IPO) will need to inc...
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UK Patent Attorneys able to represent clients before the European Unified Patent Court

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It has been confirmed that European patent attorneys having a relevant UK qualification will be able to represent clients directly before the Unified Patent Court. All of Williams Powell's patent attorneys have the relevant qualifications and will therefore be entered on the list of representatives. As previously reported, the new UPC system i...
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