As a part of my job, I am sometimes asked to place a value on a particular patent or application. This can be very difficult to do as a patent is protecting an intangible asset of the underlying invention. The value that the patent has ultimately depends upon many factors which are difficult to predict. These include how many people want to copy the invention, the validity of the patent, and how successful the patentee is at enforcing it. With this in mind, it was interesting to see the...
Engineers at Stanford University have developed a technique for improved optical sensing and subsequently recognized that it works in the same way as a gecko's ears. The same underlying principle also describes an interference phenomenon between closely arranged atoms. It is fairly common for inventions to find an analogue in the natural world or another technical field - the inspiration for the invention sometimes even comes from the analogue (such as cat's eyes). Similarly, inventions...
I was having a discussion recently about the impact of smart phones on how we live our lives - in particular with regard to the impact of being contactable (by call, texts and emails). This lead me to consider what the next big change to our lifestyle will be. In this article someone from NASA said they consider "Urban air mobility could... fundamentally change our lifestyle much like smart phones have." Only a couple of years ago, when Toyota filed a patent for a vehicle with a propeller...
Today is World Vegan Day and what better way to celebrate than to take a look at how The Vegan Society is successfully licensing its registered trade marks to third parties in an effort to educate the public about vegan-friendly products. The Vegan Society owns a number of UK and EU trade mark registrations, including for its vegan logo, featured in the image below. According to its website, www.vegansociety.com, the Society coined the word "vegan" in 1944 and its sunflower symbol trade mark...
The CJEU has this week handed down its answer to a question referred by the German Bundespatentgericht, and has emphatically shut the door on the possibility of obtaining an SPC for a medical device. Here the Bundespatentgericht had requested confirmation of whether authorisation of a medical device containing an active ingredient could be considered to have been authorised under Directive [2001/83] as required by Article 2 of the SPC Regulation since authorisation of the medical device...
There is a US patent for every occasion! US Patent 6,904,612 apparently provides protection for a Halloween costume particularly adapted to accommodate changes in weather and climate. The Halloween costume may be worn regardless of seasonal and weather variation. This may prove useful for our trick or treat expedition this evening...
Choosing a career is a monumental task. I remember taking the career aptitude test at school, which suggested that I should become a doctor or a vet. However, it very quickly transpired that my stomach would not cope with either of those options. I fell upon the career of a patent attorney following a discussion with my supervisor at university. I was then lucky enough to gain work experience at Boult Wade Tennant, which confirmed that this was the career for me. Boult Wade Tennant's 2019...
Along with the headline-grabbing tax implications of yesterday's Budget, which I will leave the more qualified people to discuss, the Chancellor included some plans which may have an impact upon Intellectual Property. In particular, these plans appear relevant to small to medium companies and start-ups that may be intellectual property-rich, but are struggling to secure funding. First, the Budget announced that the Government will "seek to introduce targeted relief for the cost of goodwill...
It's 20 years this month since the launch of Espacenet - one of the largest free to use patent databases in the world. Espacenet allows anyone access to over 100 million patent documents from over 100 countries. That's a pretty phenomenal resource. So, next time you are looking for some competitor insight, or an idea of the latest developments in a particular field, I suggest you take a look at what's out there in the patent world.
A recent judgment from the General Court to annul a decision of the EUIPO to invalidate an EUTM registration for the word DEVIN - the name of a town in Bulgaria - serves as a useful reminder that geographical place names are inherently registrable as trade marks. This is as long as: a. the place name is not currently associated in the minds of the public with the goods and/or services applied for, e.g. as the place of production of the goods or the place where the services are rendered; and...
Following on from my post on Mo Farah and Usain Bolt’s choices of registered trade mark protection comes this interesting article which shows numerous other celebrities who have chosen to register their names (and more) as trade marks. There are some big names on the list, including other sports stars David Beckham and boxer Nicola Adams, as well as pop stars Rihanna and Taylor Swift. It’s good to see these celebrities utilising trade mark protection. It provides them with a high profile and...
Anyone can file an Opposition against the grant of a European patent. So if the real protagonist would prefer to remain out of sight, they can instruct someone else to file an Opposition on their behalf. The someone else is commonly known as a 'straw man' or, less commonly, a 'straw person'. The straw person can be a corporate or an individual. Many of my clients like the idea of concealing their identity in this way. But before pursuing this course, there are important issues to consider....
Even sports stars can utilise trade mark registrations. Signature moves may not be the most conventional of trade marks, but they are key to Mo Farah and Usain Bolt. Brand protection is important in all walks of commercial life and even unusual signs can be protected. Sports stars have been protecting their names and signatures for years and now they are beginning to protect other identifying signs. What’s going to be next?
Lord Kitchin's judgement in Icescape v Ice-World has been a topic of discussion recently because of the application of the "markedly different" approach to assessing infringement set out in Actavis v Eli Lilly. In addition, this judgement also demonstrated a strict approach to assessing the validity of a priority claim. The outcome provides a reminder of the care that must be taken when filing a superseding Patent application including more material than the original priority application. ...
Having a background in telecoms and a keen interest in shortwave radio, the concept of an AM-transmitting cello intrigues me. Assuming the idea had never been considered before, it certainly sounds inventive enough to be patentable. I am not aware if a patent application was ever filed for it though and I suspect that patents will not be high on the artist's priorities. That is not surprising, of course. Artists are typically more focused on the art and its message than stopping third parties...
