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Intellectual Property UK
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June 04, 2024
Illumina Board Puts Grail Spinoff In Motion After EU OK
Illumina Inc. said Tuesday that its board had approved a spinoff of its cancer detection company following a push by activist heavyweight Carl Icahn and an ultimate order from European authorities to dispose of the asset.
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June 04, 2024
Tosho Corp. Ceramics Appeal Doesn't Crack Under Pressure
A European appellate patent board has overturned a lower board's decision that a patent for a variety of ceramic did not meet patent requirements, sending the decision back down to be reconsidered after ruling that its patentability has not been determined.
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June 04, 2024
Electronics Maker Loses Second Bid For 'Tartan' TM
A major Taiwanese electronics manufacturer has lost a second appeal to register a trademark for "Tartan," after European officials ruled that buyers might think it was linked to the Ogilvy ad agency.
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June 04, 2024
Payments Biz Can't Revive Anti-Fraud Tech Patent On Appeal
A payments compliance company cannot restore its patent over software designed to limit fraud in call centers because the idea is obvious in light of two earlier U.S. patents covering similar technology, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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June 04, 2024
AstraZeneca Unit Hits Back At Samsung In Soliris Patent Duel
Alexion has struck back at Samsung Bioepis as the pair continue their Soliris patent quarrel, and has told a court that its formula for a drug that treats rare blood diseases is inventive and deserving of protection.
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June 03, 2024
Heidelberg, Holcim Block Rival's Cement Patent Appeal
A Danish cement company has lost its bid to save a patent for a method of making the building material, with an appeal board of a European patent authority concluding that the business had wrongly tried to amend the patent.
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June 03, 2024
Harley-Davidson Accuses Next Of Selling Logo Knockoff T-Shirts
Harley-Davidson has accused clothing retailer Next of copying its iconic flame logo to sell T-shirts, creating "unwanted associations" that would harm the motorcycle brand's reputation.
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June 03, 2024
Patent Licensing Biz Launches Pool For Battery-Makers
A new Hungarian patent licensing business said Thursday that it has launched a pool that will give battery manufacturers the rights to more than 5,000 LG Energy and Panasonic patents for technology used to make lithium-ion batteries.
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June 03, 2024
C&A Can't Block Rival's 'Her & There' TM
C&A failed to fully block a rival clothing brand's trademark for "Her & There," after European officials ruled that the multinational retailer's prior signs looked similar but covered different types of goods.
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June 03, 2024
German Courts Dominate Claims In UPC's 1st Year
Infringement actions filed at German divisions have made up the great majority of cases filed at the Unified Patent Court since it opened its doors in June 2023, statistics show, as the court celebrates its first anniversary.
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June 03, 2024
Virtual Reality Therapy Patent Tossed In EPO Appeal
A European Patent Office appeals body has rejected an appeal by a company treating chronic pain conditions with virtual reality against the refusal of its patent, after officials found its therapy was essentially a reinvention of other treatments.
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May 31, 2024
Toy Co. Wins Fight Against Rival's 'Petit Boum' TM Bid
A Belgian toy company has blocked a Spanish competitor from registering its "Petit Boum" trademark, with a European Union intellectual property authority appeals board concluding that the mark is too similar to one of the Belgian business' existing logos.
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May 31, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen financier Crispin Odey file a defamation claim against the Financial Times, Ford hit with the latest "Dieselgate" claim and a human rights activist bring a privacy claim against Saudi Arabia. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 31, 2024
Teva Can't Nix Glaxo's Asthma Patent In EPO Appeal
Teva's U.K. business has failed to convince an appeals board at the European Patent Office to upend a decision that a Glaxo Group patent for a drug combination used to treat asthma involved an inventive step.
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May 31, 2024
Future Bright For UPC If 'Urgent' Tech Problems Solved
A year after the Unified Patent Court opened its doors, the court looks to be living up to its promise as a premier venue for global patent litigation, but lawyers say that technical glitches behind the scenes must be remedied urgently if it is to excel.
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May 31, 2024
Adhesive Biz Comes Unstuck In Bid To Block 'Monta' EU TM
A packaging company has fought off an adhesive producer's attempt to dash its "Monta" European Union trademark hopes, convincing an appeals panel that consumers would not confuse the sign with its opponent's earlier "Montack" sign.
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May 31, 2024
US Medical Products Maker Loses Slogan TM Challenge
A U.S. medical products company has lost its appeal for trademark protection for its slogan "Think. Make. Protect." after European officials ruled that the sign implies that it gave "thorough consideration" to its products when they were manufactured.
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May 30, 2024
EU Court Buries Bid To Nix Plant Nursery's Succulent Variety
A European court ruled Wednesday that a Belgian plant nursery can register a new type of succulent, upholding an earlier decision by the bloc's plant intellectual property rights body to refuse a Dutch company's challenge to the plant.
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May 30, 2024
Nike Scores Partial Win In Adidas '3 Stripes' Appeal
Nike successfully challenged a German regional court's ruling preventing it from using a stripe pattern on five of its trouser designs, in the latest round of its stripe-centric trademark dispute with Adidas.
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May 30, 2024
Xiaomi Hit With FRAND Litigation In Paris
A patent holding company has accused Xiaomi in a French court of unlawfully using its tech patents for "nearly all" of 4G-enabled devices, just a week after suing the phone giant in India.
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May 30, 2024
UPC Names Pinsent Masons Atty As New Appeals Judge
The Unified Patent Court said Thursday it has appointed a new judge to its Court of Appeal in Luxembourg after one of its legally qualified members stepped down.
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May 30, 2024
3M Nixes Teva Inhaler Patent On Appeal At EPO
3M Innovative Properties Co. has convinced European officials to ax a patent owned by Israeli generic-drug maker Teva for an inhaler that relieves pulmonary disease symptoms, arguing that other scientists would have eventually figured out its special formula.
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May 30, 2024
Nokia Can't Block Music Streamer's 'Nonoki' TM
Nokia cannot stop the registration of a trademark for "Nonoki," after European officials ruled that people wouldn't confuse the Finnish phone brand with a free music and video streaming platform.
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May 29, 2024
Rain Bird Irrigation Company Loses Fight To Keep 'Bird' TM
U.S. irrigation technology company Rain Bird Corp. has lost its fight to save its "Bird" trademark, with a European trademark authority appeals board concluding that the company had not validly used the mark because it only ever used "Rain Bird."
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May 29, 2024
Penguin Loses 'Plan B' TM Bid Over Bad Faith Ruling
A European court refused to overturn a decision nixing a Penguin Random House trademark bid Wednesday, upholding a previous ruling that the application was made to usurp the existing name rights of an independent Spanish publisher.
Expert Analysis
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EU's AI Act: Pitfalls And Opportunities For Data Collectors
The European Union’s new Artificial Intelligence Act entails explicit requirements and limitations throughout the AI value chain that might affect firms directly or indirectly dealing with AI development, such as data-as-a-service companies and web scraping providers, says Denas Grybauskas at Oxylabs.
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Potential EPO Reproducibility Ruling May Affect IP Strategies
A potential European Patent Office decision in referral G1/23, concerning the reproducibility criteria for patenting commercial products, may affect how disclosures are assessed as prior art and could influence how companies weigh protecting innovations as trade secrets versus patents, says Michael Stott at Mathys & Squire.
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Tips For Companies Tapping Into Commercial Cleantech
A recent report from the European Patent Office and European Investment Bank examining the global financing and commercialization of cleantech innovation necessary for the green energy transition can help companies understand and solve the issues in developing and implementing the full potential of cleantech, says Eleanor Maciver at Mewburn Ellis.
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UPC Appeal Ruling Clarifies Language Change Framework
In 10x Genomics v. Curio Bioscience, the Unified Patent Court recently allowed proceedings to be conducted in English, rather than German, shedding light on the framework on UPC language change applications and hopefully helping prevent future disputes, say Conor McLaughlin and Nina O'Sullivan at Mishcon de Reya.
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UK Trademark Law May Further Diverge From EU Standards
The recently enacted Retained EU Law Act, which removes the principle of EU law supremacy, offers a path for U.K. trademark law to distance itself even further from EU precedent — beyond the existing differences between the two trademark examination processes, say David Kemp and Michael Shaw at Marks & Clerk.
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How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe
A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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Breaking Down The EPO's Revised Practice Guidelines
The European Patent Office's updated guidelines for examination recently took effect and include significant changes related to the priority right presumption, the concept of plausibility and artificial intelligence, providing invaluable insight on obtaining patents from the office, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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UK Amazon Ruling Spotlights TM Rights In International Sales
Highlighting the conflict between the territorial nature of trademark rights and the borderless nature of the internet, the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision — that Amazon's U.S. website could infringe EU and U.K. rights by targeting local buyers — offers guidance on navigating trademark rights in relation to online sales, say Emmy Hunt, Mark Kramer and Jordan Mitchell at Potter Clarkson.
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Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation
While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.
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Design Rights Can Build IP Protection, EU Lego Ruling Shows
The EU General Court's recent ruling in Delta Sport v. EU Intellectual Property Office — that Lego's registered community design for a building block was valid — helps clarify when technically dictated designs can enjoy IP protection, and demonstrates how companies can strategically use design rights to protect and enhance their market position, says Christoph Moeller at Mewburn Ellis.
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ECJ Ruling Clarifies Lawyer Independence Questions
The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in Bonnanwalt v. EU Intellectual Property Office, finding that a law firm had maintained independence despite being owned by its client, serves as a pivotal reference point to understanding the contours of legal representation before EU courts, say James Tumbridge and Benedict Sharrock-Harris at Venner Shipley.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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Patent Plausibility Uncertainty Persists, EPO Petition Shows
While a recent petition for review at the European Patent Office — maintaining that the Board of Appeal misapplied the Enlarged Board of Appeal's order on whether a patent is "plausible" — highlights the continued uncertainty surrounding the plausibility concept, the outcome could provide useful guidance on the interpretation of orders, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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UMG-TikTok IP Rift Highlights Effective Rights Control Issues
Despite Universal Music Group's recent withdrawal of TikTok's licensing rights to its music catalog, the platform struggles to control uploads and reproductions of copyrighted material, highlighting the inherent tension between creative freedom and effective rights control in the age of social media, says Simon Goodbody at Bray & Krais.
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Bribery Class Action Ruling May Revive Bifurcated Processes
The Court of Appeal's recent decision allowing the representative bribery action in Commission Recovery v. Marks & Clerk offers renewed hope for claimants to advance class claims using a bifurcated process amid its general absence as of late, say Jon Gale and Justin Browne at Ashurst.