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The Growing Role of Biomass in a Low-Carbon Future
The Growing Role of Biomass in a Low-Carbon Future In the push towards reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, biomass has become a key feedstock for the production of renewable products, fuels, and energy. In particular, new efforts focus on the transformation of sugar and starch crops, cellulose, and municipal waste into chemical products typically derived from fossil fuels. What biomass and bio-derived products are, and what they are... Read more
What Ancient Persia Can Teach us About Energy Efficiency in Buildings
What Ancient Persia Can Teach us About Energy Efficiency in Buildings There is no doubt that the Earth is getting warmer. According to the 2022 Global Climate Report from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022 was the sixth warmest year since global records began in 1880 at 0.86°C above the 20th century average of 13.9°C. The global temperatures of 2022 were not just a fluke, the last nine years (2014-2022)... Read more
Carbon Capture and Storage: Burying our Problems?
Carbon Capture and Storage: Burying our Problems? Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been in the spotlight recently. Last month, the UK government announced a policy paper on “Delivering Energy Security and Net Zero”, which places a focus on making the UK a leader in CCS technology. In January, Germany and Norway published a joint declaration on climate and renewable energy that includes an agreement to... Read more
The Enlarged Board of Appeal Sets 26 May 2023 for the Hearing on Cases G1/22 and G2/22 Regarding the Entitlement to Priority As reported here, the Board of Appeal in consolidated cases T 1513/17 and T 2719/19 referred two new questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal concerning the issue of priority entitlement, in particular relating to the “joint applicants” approach to claiming priority. The cases are now proceeding before the Enlarged Board of Appeal as G1/22 and G2/22, and a hearing has been... Read more
Applications in the Sunrise Period: to Opt Out or Not to Opt Out?
Applications in the Sunrise Period: to Opt Out or Not to Opt Out? The UPC sunrise period is well underway and several thousand opt outs have been filed. The focus during the sunrise period has been on opting out European patents. For long-granted patents, the opening of the UPC on 1 June 2023 presents competitors with the opportunity to file a central revocation action effective in up to seventeen countries covered by a... Read more
New Legislation Changes the Future of Farming
New Legislation Changes the Future of Farming On 23 March 2023, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act passed into law in England, allowing use of gene-edited crops and livestock in English agriculture for the first time. The Act presents a route to fields and shopping baskets for precision-bred crops and livestock, and allows the establishment of new frameworks for regulation and authorisation. It represents a marked divergence... Read more
Decision from the Enlarged Board of Appeal in G2/21 Regarding the Doctrine of Plausibility The EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) has now published the hotly anticipated decision G 2/21 together with a Press Communiqué. The decision relates to the requirement for a “plausible” disclosure of efficacy in the application as originally filed. The Press Communiqué provides an overview of the background to the decision and the key outcomes. The Press Communiqué can be... Read more
Microglia – Could Harnessing the Brain’s Immune Cells Help Treat Alzheimer’s Disease?
Microglia – Could Harnessing the Brain’s Immune Cells Help Treat Alzheimer’s Disease? Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is estimated to be responsible for up to 70% of dementia cases, but after decades of research, the causes remain uncertain. The leading theory is that AD is driven by the accumulation of particular misfolded proteins in the brain: amyloid-beta (a-β) and phosphorylated tau (p-τ). However, there are reasons to believe that this may not be the... Read more
Windsor Framework Expected to Simplify SPC Applications in the UK Provided that they are formally ratified and implemented, the “Medicines” elements of the Windsor Framework (WF)1 for Northern Ireland are expected to simplify SPC applications in the UK. Instead of new drugs generally requiring one marketing authorisation for Great Britain (issued by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA)) and another for Northern Ireland (issued by the EU’s... Read more
Resisting Antibiotics – Time for an Antibacterial Revolution?
Resisting Antibiotics – Time for an Antibacterial Revolution? It was in 1928 that the first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by Alexander Fleming. The discovery was a major breakthrough in modern medicine, and penicillin became mass-produced for clinical use by the 1940s. However, it rapidly became apparent that some bacteria were able to evade the effects of penicillin. It was eventually discovered that these bacteria could produce an enzyme... Read more
Another Referral to the CJEU on the Validity of SPCs for Combination Therapy Products Last year we reported two referrals from the Finnish and Irish courts concerning SPCs for combination therapy products (“Combi-SPCs”). Those referring decisions identified that there is tension between the definition and interpretation of “product” in earlier decisions of the CJEU concerned primarily with Article 3(c), and an apparently contradictory approach taken in more recent decisions concerned primarily with Article 3(a).... Read more
Food Products and Trade Mark Protection – Blurring the Line of Descriptiveness
Food Products and Trade Mark Protection – Blurring the Line of Descriptiveness Visitors to a supermarket will be confronted with thousands of famous and distinctive brand names competing for space in their (virtual or physical) shopping basket. However, they may not realise that yet more trade marks are hiding in plain sight – some words which seem, at first glance, to be descriptive of the products on which they appear can in... Read more
Unitary Patent Oddities: What You Might Not Know About the UP
Unitary Patent Oddities: What You Might Not Know About the UP We all know about the unitary patent (UP): a single patent right giving you protection in a group of EU member states that have signed up to the UPC agreement (currently 17 states). The UP gives you broad geographical protection for a lower cost than the corresponding national validations and is enforceable in a single action through the Unified Patent... Read more
World Soil Day: High Tech in Farming
World Soil Day: High Tech in Farming One of the oldest areas in which technology has made its impact on human civilisation is farming. The development of agricultural techniques in the Neolithic period allowed humans to transition from nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyles to living in permanent settlements. The agricultural revolution in Britain through the 17th to 19th centuries led to a huge increase in productivity that freed up... Read more
Videoconferencing Will be the Default Format for Most Oral Proceedings at the EPO The EPO has announced that, from 1 January 2023, all oral proceedings before the opposition divisions will take place by videoconference by default, rather than in-person on the premises of the EPO. This announcement does not substantially change the current practice of the EPO, as opposition division oral proceedings have been conducted by videoconference as default since 4 January 2021... Read more
Pumpkin Patents for Halloween
Pumpkin Patents for Halloween “All Hallows’ Eve”, or “Halloween”, is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October. Traditional Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, apple bobbing, and carving jack-o’-lanterns. It is believed that the jack-o’-lantern originates from Ireland, where turnips or other root vegetables were hollowed-out to act as lanterns with horrifying faces (see a truly terrifying example here). Irish immigrants brought this tradition... Read more
UK IPO Publishes Detailed Guidance on Examination of Patent Applications Relating to AI Inventions In the UK Government’s response to their call for views on artificial intelligence and intellectual property in March 2021, it was stated that the government would “publish enhanced IPO guidelines on patent exclusion practice for AI inventions and engage AI interested sectors, including SMEs, and the patent attorney profession to enhance understanding of UK patent exclusion practice and AI inventions.”... Read more
Same, Same but Different – Revocation at the EPO and UPC
Same, Same but Different – Revocation at the EPO and UPC The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) has been a highly attractive forum for challenging patents since the first European patents were granted. The procedure is pretty much unrivalled across the globe in terms of bang for your buck. The procedure is simple, streamlined and inexpensive. There are rules to follow, but they are well tested. It works.... Read more
Being in Love or Being Lovers of the Bastille – Both can Coexist
Being in Love or Being Lovers of the Bastille – Both can Coexist In this Insight we explore the requirement of originality for a copyright work in a song title and the scope of protection thereof in Love’s Labour’s Lost. Happy Bastille Day. An artist who composed the song “Les amoureux de la Bastille”, filed for protection of the musical work together with its song title before the SNAC (national union for authors... Read more
Celebrating Global Wind Day: Growth and Development in the Wind Power Sector
Celebrating Global Wind Day: Growth and Development in the Wind Power Sector Global Wind Day is an event held each year on 15 June, aimed at informing people of the potential of wind energy and its importance to decarbonising the global economy. To celebrate Global Wind Day, we explore how wind power technology has developed through history, and how these developments have led to an industry in which patent protection is critical.... Read more
We Know mRNA Vaccines are Great for Covid, but What’s Next?
We Know mRNA Vaccines are Great for Covid, but What’s Next? There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust mRNA vaccines into the spotlight, as we have explored in a previous insight. However, the revolution in mRNA-based therapeutics extends far beyond coronavirus vaccines. Here is a sneak preview of what might be next for mRNA… Vaccines against other pathogens Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines targeting other pathogens... Read more
Possible Settlement of CJEU Referral for SPCs from Finland As reported previously, courts in both Ireland (in February 2022, concerning Inegy®) and Finland (in November 2021, concerning Janumet®) have recently identified an apparent discrepancy in CJEU case law with respect to the interpretation of “product” in the SPC Regulation. In short, the courts in both countries determined a need for the CJEU to clarify whether the same criteria should apply for the purposes... Read more
Star Wars Day: How the Technology of Star Wars may not be so Far, Far Away
Star Wars Day: How the Technology of Star Wars may not be so Far, Far Away May the fourth be with you! Today is 4 May, affectionately known as Star Wars Day for its similarity to the wish for good fortune used in the Star Wars franchise, appealing to the mysterious “Force” which gives the Jedi their superhuman powers. The original Star Wars film was released in May 1977 and catapulted audiences into a world of... Read more
Alphafold – A Game Changer in Machine Learning Research
Alphafold – A Game Changer in Machine Learning Research Introduction Proteins are a class of macromolecules which carry out a wide range of functions. For example, proteins are essential for photosynthesis, producing energy from food, contracting muscle fibres and DNA replication, and form the building blocks of bone, skin and the immune system. Proteins are formed of chains of amino acids. There are twenty different amino acids which are... Read more
Celebrating Earth Day: How Investing in IP can be an Investment in the Planet
Celebrating Earth Day: How Investing in IP can be an Investment in the Planet Earth Day is an annual global event created in 1970 to raise awareness of growing environmental concerns. This year’s Earth Day, which falls on April 22, has the theme “Invest in our Planet”. For many of the supporters of Earth Day this investment will be of time. Across the world, from Cambridge to California, from Nanjing to Nairobi, people will... Read more
EPO Further Extends Video Conference for Opposition Division Oral Proceedings until 31 December 2022 The EPO has announced that it is once again extending the use of video conference for opposition division oral proceedings. The current measures, whereby all opposition division oral proceedings take place by video conference, were due to expire on 31 May 2022. We understand that this announcement means that no opposition division oral proceedings will take place in-person until after 31 December... Read more
Russian Government Takes Powers to Appropriate IP Rights Without Compensation Where Proprietors are from “Unfriendly Countries” The government of the Russian Federation has adopted on 7 March 2022 a decree which provides that no compensation is payable when a patent, utility model or industrial design is subjected to a compulsory license, if the proprietor is from a country carrying out “unfriendly activities”. The list of countries deemed to be carrying out “unfriendly” activities in relation to the Russian... Read more
China Joins the Hague System for International Registration of Industrial Designs On 5 February 2022 China announced it is joining the Hague System for International Registration of Industrial Designs. From 5 May 2022, Applicants will be able to designate China as part of an International Design Application along with other major jurisdictions that include the USA, EU, UK, Japan and Canada. The announcement also states that the Chinese office have made Declarations requiring... Read more
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