Expert Analysis

• IP Ruling Could Pave Way For AI Patents In UK

  

  If implemented by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, the High Court's recent ruling in Emotional Perception AI v. Comptroller-General of Patents, holding that artificial neural networks can be patented, could be a first step to welcoming AI patents in the U.K., say Arnie Francis and Alexandra Brodie at Gowling.

• Why It's Urgent For Pharma Cos. To Halt Counterfeit Meds

  

  With over 10.5 million counterfeit medicines seized in the EU in 2023, it is vital both ethically and commercially that pharmaceutical companies take steps to protect against such infringements, including by invoking intellectual property rights protection, says Lars Karnøe at Potter Clarkson.

• Examining US And Europe Patent Disclosure For AI Inventions

  

  As applicants before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office increasingly seek patent protection for inventions relating to artificial intelligence, the applications may require more implementation details than traditional computer-implemented inventions, including disclosure of data and methods used to train the AI systems, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• Incontinence Drug Ruling Offers Key Patent Drafting Lessons

  

  In a long-awaited decision in Astellas v. Teva and Sandoz, an English court found that the patent for a drug used to treat overactive bladder syndrome had not been infringed, highlighting the interaction between patent drafting and litigation strategy, and why claim infringement is as important a consideration as validity, says George McCubbin at Herbert Smith.

• EPO Decision Significantly Relaxes Patent Priority Approach

  

  In a welcome development for patent applicants, a recent European Patent Office decision redefines the way that entitlement to priority is assessed, significantly relaxing the previous approach and making challenges to the right to priority in post-grant opposition proceedings far more difficult, say lawyers at Finnegan.

• Why US Should Help European Efforts To Fix SEP Licensing

  

  The European Commission's proposed reform of standard-essential patent licensing aims to fix a fundamental problem stemming from the asymmetry and obscurity of information about SEPs, and U.S. agencies exploring regulation of foreign regimes should support and improve these efforts, say David McAdams at Duke University and David Katz at WilmerHale.

• Shifting From Technical To Clear Insurance Contract Wordings

  

  Recent developments on insurance policies, including the Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty, represent a major shift for insurers and highlight the importance of drafting policies that actively improve understanding, rather than shift the onus onto the end user, say Tamsin Hyland and Jonathan Charwat at RPC.

• What's In The Plan To Boost Germany's Commercial Litigation

  

  Lawyers at Cleary discuss Germany's recent draft bill, which establishes commercial courts and introduces English as a court language in civil proceedings, and analyze whether it accomplishes the country's goal of becoming a more attractive venue for commercial litigation.

• Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law

  

  An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.

• Future Paths For AI Inventorship After Justices' Thaler Denial

  

  Anup Iyer at Moore & Van Allen examines the current and future state of AI inventorship in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear Thaler v. Vidal, including collaboration, international challenges, and the need for closer examination in research and development-intensive sectors.

• EU Ruling Highlights Strategic Benefits Of Patent Appeals

  

  The European Patent Office board of appeal recently reversed the examining board's ruling in an application by LG Electronics, highlighting how applicants struggling to escape conflicting objection traps at the examination level can improve their chances of a positive outcome with an appeal, says Andrew Rudhall at Haseltine Lake.

• Series

  In A 'Barbie' World: Boosting IP Value With Publicity Machines

  

  Mattel's history of intellectual property monitoring, including its recent challenge against Burberry over the "BRBY" trademark ahead of the "Barbie" film, shows how IP enforcement strategies can be used as publicity to increase brand value and inform potential collaborations, says Carly Duckett at Shepherd and Wedderburn.

• UPC Revocation Actions Offer An Attractive Patent Strategy

  

  As the Unified Patent Court gains momentum after an initial period of nervousness around the recently launched forum, more businesses may be starting to realize the value of running revocation actions as an alternative route to knocking out patents across Europe, say Oliver Laing and Georgia Carr at Potter Clarkson.

• 5 Takeaways For Litigants From Early EU Patent Court Ruling

  

  One of the first Unified Patent Court ex parte preliminary injunctions was recently granted in myStromer v. Revolt Zycling, demonstrating the court's ability to decide cases extremely quickly, but parties should be careful in phrasing their motions and sufficiently substantiating them to achieve the desired result, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.

• Copyright Cheat Sheet: Finding Substantially Similar Songs

  

  Using the recent copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran over his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" as a case study, forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig provides an overview for attorneys of which musical elements do and do not, when altered, create the sense of a new or distinct composition — a determination increasingly sought from experts in court.