Very interesting to see statistics published by MarkMonitor that reemphasise the importance of protecting a brand online. By focusing enforcement activities on webpages, search listings and marketplaces that your customers see, not only will you protect your brand but you can also help protect your customers from unwittingly buying counterfeit goods.
Read More
Being on the receiving end of a court action for patent infringement will cost a six or seven figure sum to defend. That's a risk most companies want to avoid. So my role often involves helping my clients to identify and mitigate that risk. But, as I’ve said before, risk-free just doesn’t exist. I can’t eliminate every risk. I can’t hope even to identify every risk. Even with an unlimited budget, it’s simply impossible. It’s for this reason I would suggest that the term “freedom to operate”...
Read More
Patents covering key breakthrough technologies often generate attention, but many fields of development generate large numbers of patents, each covering relatively small improvements. This is especially true in telecoms, where engineers seek to make new technology realise the promise of higher data rate services. That developmental process can take years, giving the opportunity for refinement and improvement, with many more patents. All communications engineers know that the Shannon-Hartley...
Read More
Entertainment One is the Canadian media company behind much-loved children's television show Peppa Pig. Its Senior Director of Brand Protection, Niall Trainor, has shared his experiences of using IP in China to protect the Peppa Pig brand. China is working hard to transform its IP system so that it is easier for IP owners to enforce their rights against infringers. The improvements are working and the new Hangzhou Internet Court has allowed Entertainment One to succeed in actions against two...
Read More
Tech giants Microsoft have recently announced that they are joining the Open Invention Network (OIN). This is an open-source patent group which is intended to protect the "Linux System" which already includes the likes of Google, IBM and Sony. The roughly 2,650 members agree to offer to each other royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable licenses to their relevant patents. Microsoft have announced that they are bringing over 60,000 issued patents into the group. The Linux...
Read More
I was recently struck by this TED talk about how language shapes the way we think. Proceedings before the European Patent Office can be conducted in any of three languages: English, French and German. Where Opposition proceedings are concerned, an Opponent can make a case in one of those three languages for revocation of a patent that is written in another of those three languages. This can add a significant layer of complexity to an already complicated procedure. Opposition proceedings...
Read More
The first hundred days is a phrase commonly associated with US Presidents. This period is considered long enough that people can start to get an idea of how their term is going to go and whether they are making any progress. In this case it is not the US President but António Campinos, the new President of the EPO who is reflecting on their first hundred(ish) days in office. My academic background is in chemistry and crystallography, and in the field of crystallography there is an old saying...
Read More
The European Patent Office usually restrict the number of independent claims that you can include in your patent application (Rule 43(2) EPC). These rules restrict an applicant to a single independent claim in each category (typically a single method claim and a single independent apparatus claim). There are some limited exceptions, such the inclusion of separate independent claims for plugs and sockets, different uses of a product or apparatus, or where there are alternative solutions to...
Read More
Earlier this year I commented on the upsurge in immunotherapy cancer research - see “Exciting times for immunotherapy”. The significance of the developments in this field has now been recognised by the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine with the award of this year’s prize to two immunotherapy pioneers. The prize has been shared by Professor James Allison and Professor Tasuku Honjo - scientists who conducted early research leading to the characterisation of two key proteins regulating...
Read More
Last year, £942.5 million was claimed using the UK government's Patent Box scheme. This scheme allows innovative companies to pay a reduced rate of tax on at least some of the profits generated from sales of products having UK patent protection. In my experience, some patent owners are very aware of the Patent Box and are making good use of it. But, from what I observe, others have little awareness of the scheme or the potential magnitude of its benefits. It's entirely possible for the tax...
Read More
The AIPPI World Congress is being held this week in Cancun with delegates attending from around the globe. For those not familiar with AIPPI, it is a non-profit organisation having as its objective the improvement and promotion of intellectual property on both international and national bases. I have been a member of the AIPPI UK group for several years now and am always interested in the "study questions" debated each year at the AIPPI congress. These working questions seek to address...
Read More
With a possible Brexit date of 29 March 2019, the UK Government has now published guidance on what they consider to be the fall-back position for EU design protection in the event of a “no deal” scenario. There are various uncertainties still remaining, but the UK Government appears to intend to avoid any potential loss of rights by EU design right holders and applicants, even as a fall-back position. I would emphasise that this is only guidance and can be changed by the UK Government;...
Read MoreEverybody has seen the FACT advert before watching a movie "You wouldn't steal a car". However, despite the popularity (notoriety?) of this advert infringement of IP rights remains a relatively poorly understood area of law. This is somewhat understandable. IP rights (Patents, Designs, Trade marks and copyright) are specialist areas, and obtaining the rights can be complicated and time consuming. Enforcement of those rights is even more so. Thankfully the Intellectual Property Office has...
Read MoreIn my view, the secondary market for patents is less developed than it might be. Perhaps one of the main reasons is that the secondary market has been dominated in recent years by so-called non-practising entities (NPEs). In general, NPEs seek to build a patent portfolio not because they want to use the technology, but for the sole purpose of enforcing the patents against those who do. Another reason may be the shortage of easily accessible marketplaces for such sales. After all, only large...
Read More
A Brazilian patent publication has provided the public with its first opportunity to view the new BMW X7 which is set to go on sale later this year. Car manufacturers go to great lengths to disguise their new models during on road testing prior to launch. But on this occasion those efforts were somewhat in vain as computer design images of the vehicle had already been revealed via an intellectual property filing. Patent applications generally publish 18 months after the filing of the...
Read More
