Understanding Patent Applications and Methods for Best Approaches in Europe and the U.S.
With nearly 800 cases adjudicated or pending thus far at the Unified Patent Court (UPC), a possible procedural gap has appeared in the European patent system: no clear legal mechanism currently exists to resolve conflicting...more
The rapid increase in innovation and popularity surrounding AI, its capabilities and seemingly endless applications has created a technological revolution, the magnitude of which hasn’t been seen for decades. This has led to...more
The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a new dual decision – G1/22 and G2/22 – dealing with the assessment of priority rights at the EPO. The decision represents a significant break from...more
On October 10, 2023, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) issued a consolidated decision in cases G1/22 and G2/22 clarifying a common issue regarding the validity of a priority claim made at the...more
Should I stay or should I go? This is the question current owners of European patents and applicants for pending applications are asking as the European Patent with Unitary Effect (“Unitary Patent”) and Unified Patent Court...more
Seven years after the Member States of the EU signed the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPCA”), the Unitary Patent (“UP”) and the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) are likely to commence during the second half of 2022. This...more
As of 1 April 2022, the European Patent Office (EPO) has changed its policy regarding the issuance of electronic certificates of grant for European patents. If the patent proprietor or their representative has an activated...more
The European Patent Office has denied two patent applications on the grounds that an AI system cannot be listed as the inventor. For the first time, the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a ruling on its approach to...more
From 31 January 2020, the UK is no longer an EU Member State. This article outlines the main impacts of Brexit on intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, designs and models, copyrights, and sui generis...more
In the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, IP rights in the UK will be impacted. However, the UK has put in place various provisions to protect IP rights holders. Owners of European Union (EU) trade mark registrations,...more
On November 1, 2018, the European Patent Office (“EPO”) issued new guidelines for the patentability of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) inventions which indicate that applications within this subject...more
Agenda: • UK Supreme Court Decision on Infringement – “Equivalents” – Use of the prosecution history • Doctrine of Equivalents in the United States • Plausibility before the EPO and UK courts – Inventive step of...more
The UK Supreme Court rarely hears patent cases, and will only hear cases that it considers to be fundamentally important. The court's July 12 judgment is most significant for changing the test for infringement in the United...more
Now that some time has passed since the Brexit vote, some of the ways in which the vote is likely to impact British patent law are becoming clearer. Here is a quick summary of some of the primary concerns....more
On 7 July 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that, provided that a licensee is free to terminate a licence agreement on reasonable notice, it can be obliged to pay royalties even after the patent...more
On 7 July 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down a judgment on whether Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) must be interpreted as precluding effect being...more
As the UK leaves the EU, in light of the seismic result of the United Kingdom referendum on June 23, 2016, there will be an immense amount to do, for the UK and the remaining EU, and for companies that are either based in, or...more