On Tuesday this week Claridge Candles Limited, a UK based candle maker, responded to an recent trade mark dispute filed by Claridge's Hotel Limited, owners of the famous Mayfair hotel. The dispute dates from as early as January this year, when Claridge Candles Limited filed a trade mark application at the UKIPO for CLARIDGE. However, a brief review of the UK Companies House Register shows that Claridge Candles Limited adopted this name as far back as autumn 2016. This highlights the...
Following the landmark Activis v Eli Lilly ([2017] UKSC 48) case, the UK patent profession has been grappling with the implications of a case where claims directed to pemetrexed disodium were found to be infringed by a product containing pemetrexed dipotassium under a doctrine of equivalents. A further application of the new law has been provided in the recent Court of Appeal decision - Icescape v Ice-World ([2018] EWCA Civ 2219). At the time of the Actavis decision, I will admit to being...
I have previously reported on litigation between Unwired Planet and Huawei, which has been progressing through the English courts for over 3 years. The case concerned a number of Standards Essential Patents (SEPs), which the High Court held to be valid and infringed. Whilst Huawei were a willing licensee, there was significant dispute over the terms of the licence, which under the telecoms standardization rules must be “Fair Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory” (FRAND). Birss J in the High...
The French courts have this week referred additional questions to the CJEU. In a break from the stream of questions regarding the interpretation of Article 3(a) of the SPC Regulation, these questions relate to the requirement under Article 3(c) of the SPC Regulation that the product has not already been the subject of an SPC. The referred questions arose from a decision of the French Court not to grant an SPC for the active ingredient ciclosporin for the treatment of keratitis because a...
Figures released by professional services firm RPC reveal that there was a 20% increase in the number of new trade marks registered for beer in the UK last year. RPC suggests that the increase can be attributed to the "craft beer boom", thereby highlighting the often close relationship between consumer trends and the registration landscape. I can't help but also wonder how big of a role social media and online advertising has played in the proliferation of registrations With companies and...
As an Applicant for a patent, you would like to think that your application will be judged solely on its merits according to the relevant requirements. However, a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper entitled From Revolving Doors to Regulatory Capture? Evidence from Patent Examiners suggests that the identity of the Patent Examiner and the law firm filing the response can play a significant part. While the first patent for an actual revolving door was granted 7 August 1888 to...
For a number of years, we have participated in the EPO's Praktika extern programme, which allows Examiners to spend time with patent attorneys. We benefit by learning something of the Examiner's point of view, whilst the Examiner sees how IP decisions are taken in industry. We are currently hosting an Examiner, which is benefiting both us and our clients. One interesting lesson we learn from this programme is how Examiners think about inventions during the patent examination process. EPO...
Details of a Brexit deal are still under negotiation and IP rights based in EU law will be affected when the UK leaves the European Union. Womble Bond Dickinson nicely sum up the practical advice for rights holders and licencees in their article "Brexit and… IP transactions". Rights holders may also wonder how European Patents will be affected. European Patents are administered by the European Patent Office, which is not linked to the European Union. As such, existing European Patent...
Many technology start-ups and small businesses use patent applications as evidence for potential investors that there is an innovative, profitable product for them to get involved with. Given that many investors are not experts in intellectual property, it is important to consider how to present your IP to others and what impression it may be giving about your company. This article isn't related to a start-up though, but the second company to hit $1 trillion in value - Amazon. Last month...
Earlier this year, the EPO hosted its first conference on patenting Artificial Intelligence (AI). Following that conference, the new EPO Guidelines (due to come into force from 1 November 2018) include a new section dedicated to patentability of AI (section G-II-3.3.1). The Guidelines clarify that AI is categorized as a mathematical method. Therefore, the patentability of AI follows the same approach employed for mathematical methods. There are two main hurdles to overcome to patent a...
"WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has patched a bug found on its platform which could allow attackers to gain access to users’ accounts when they answered an incoming call." In the age of the startup, we have witnessed the incredible sudden rise of small tech companies into global giants. Many of the successful CEOs behind these burgeoning companies have put their success down to the way in which they write their software. An "agile" style of software development has been endorsed as the key to...
As part of an April fool’s joke this year, Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, posted a picture of himself apparently ‘passed out’ propped up against the wheel of a Tesla Model 3 car, joking on twitter that his company was facing bankruptcy and tweeting “Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquila" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks”. This was followed shortly by an image of a mocked up ‘Teslaquila’ label posted to Instagram. It now seems,...
It never ceases to amaze me how there is always more to research, and always more to develop (plus of course the associated IP to protect). Artificial hip joints have been around for a long time, and these days one could say they are seen as a pretty routine operation. Yet, as I did a bit of digging recently due to my Mum having a hip replacement, I came across this article that showed how there is always work to be done and challenges to overcome. It also brought back memories of the hours...
The level of definition required for an active ingredient to be considered "protected by a basic patent" under Article 3(a) of the SPC regulation has long been disputed, particularly insofar as this relates to combination products wherein one of the active ingredients is explicitly identified and the basic patent merely mentions the possibility that another active ingredient may be present. In applying the CJEU's decision C121/17, the UK High Court has now confirmed that merely reciting the...
