Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by unicellular parasites of the Plasmodium group. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2018, there were an estimated 228 million new cases of malaria resulting in 405,000 deaths worldwide. Recent strategies such as the distribution of insecticide-treated nets have had some success but a definitive solution has been elusive. Recently, however, a discovery was made in Kenya that could open new avenues for malaria disease control....
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has released an advice note setting out guidelines for gambling companies who wish to advertise during eSports events. It focuses in particular on social media and ensuring that adverts are not targeted towards under-18s, either deliberately or inadvertently. Companies and brand ambassadors should be clear in separating advertising content from regular social media content, and this advertising content will ideally be behind a conditional access...
"The BCG" is a vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) that many in the UK will remember receiving in their school days, not least because it often leaves a characteristic scar at the administration site. Since 2005 however, the BCG vaccine has been phased out of schools in the UK and is typically only offered to individuals deemed at higher risk of contracting TB. In addition to its use in the treatment of TB, BCG has been trialled as an immunotherapeutic for the treatment of cancers. Notably in...
To aleviate some of those lockdown blues I've been putting together Friday afternoon playlists for the team each week and we thought it might be fun to share them with you. The lists often have a theme and are a combination of requests and just me digging around in my musical memory. Hopefully you enjoy this and if you have any of your own suggestions, then please get in touch. This week’s playlist starts with the absolute classic, Riders on the Storm, by The Doors. First released in 1971...
Bentley Motors (the famous luxury car company), has lost a long-running high court trade mark battle with a Manchester-based family-run clothing business, Bentley Clothing. Bentley Clothing was established in 1962 . The issue in this case arose out of the clothing merchandise that Bentley Motors has then manufactured and sold since 1987. The case deals with some very important points: How the UK Courts can find an “identical mark” even when two marks are used as “Combination Sign”; The...
A ruling handed down this week by the US Trademark and Patent Office (USTPO) says that machines can't be listed as inventors on US patent applications. This follows the same conclusions earlier this year for UK patent applications and for European patent applications. There are some fascinating philosophical and lexical questions. After all, what is an "inventor"? If a machine achieves the kind of result that was previously only achievable by a human, does that mean it hasn't invented? No...
In the wake of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) refusing an application with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) named as an inventor, the Office still seems keen to explore where they think AI can be useful for the patenting process. The latest insight is a study the UKIPO commissioned Cardiff University to undertake to explore the "feasibility, technical complexities and effectiveness of using artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to improve operational processes of registering IP...
Welcome back to BoultTips! Lockdown is really starting to drag now, isn’t it?! The World Health Organisation has acknowledged lockdown is having an increasingly negative effect on our health. Our stress and anxiety levels have soared. We cannot predict what will happen. But there are strategies we can employ in the short term that can help us to cope. So let’s focus on what you CAN control. A sense of structure is so important if, like many of us, you’re losing sense of time. Try to get...
An interesting summary by WIPO as part of its celebration of World IP Day and this year's theme "Innovate for a Greener Future", highlighting the importance in particular of certification and collective marks in setting the standards for eco-friendly and sustainable brands.
The Spring edition of our TM Boult.bites newsletter is out now! We take a look at latest updates from the industry and are excited to introduce our expanded team in Germany. Read the full newsletter at: https://www.boult.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BWT-BoultBitesTM-NewsletterSPRING-2020Dev22.pdf
One thing that I've found really helps me to end the day feeling I've achieved something is to track my time throughout the day, be that time spent on work/family/play. This is something I've toyed with at various times, but never really found a way that works for me. However, at the moment, where work and home life is much more blurred, I realised that I was ending the day feeling I'd not achieved enough at work or with the family, so I thought I'd give it another go. I personally have a...
Welcome back to BoultTips! I began the week worrying if velour tracksuits had come back into fashion. A friend (working in another sector) was horrified to see one appear on a relatively ‘high powered’ Monday morning concall. I previously mentioned the trying nature of ‘work now being home’ and ‘home now being work’. All of this led me to reflect on how we do this: some of its risks and easy traps. In times like these sagacious qualities can vanish like toilet paper from supermarket...
The UK Chancellor announced yesterday, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a £1.25 billion package to protect firms driving innovation in the UK. The package includes a £500 million investment fund for high-growth companies and £750 million in grants and loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) focusing on research and development. While the likely recipients of this funding are perhaps a step back from the immediate front line when it comes to the battle against COVID-19 (at least...
Welcome to BoultTips! I hope this finds you and yours all safe and well. I am typing away to you, at my kitchen table, now entering the one month anniversary of our lockdown here in London. I hope that some whimsical observations and reflections could help colleagues, wherever in the world, survive these trying times. How has working from home been for you? For me: all relatively new. I have always tried to keep some invisible barrier between work time and home time. Yet now my lovely...
