Briefings

14 March 2017 topical CJEU Decision on Geographical Extent of CTM Reputation Article 4(3) of Directive 2008/95/EC [and corresponding Article 9(1)(c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009] deal with rights based on CTMs that have a reputation in the EU.  The wording of Article 9(1)(c) reads: Read more

2 March 2017 introductory Patent Filing: What to Expect During Patent Prosecution After your patent application has been filed at one (or more) of the many Patent Offices around the world, it will be processed by that Patent Office. This is known as the patent “prosecution” process. This Briefing provides an overview of what to expect. However there are many local differences to take into account. The law and practice that govern... Read more

2 March 2017 topical Amendments to the UK Patents Act to Extend the Bolar Exemption for Clinical Trials The UK Patents Act was amended on 1 October 2014 to clarify the extent to which conducting clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of a patented drug can constitute patent infringement.  This briefing contains a discussion of the amendments and of the situation before the future European Unitary Patent Court (UPC). Read more

1 November 2016 topical UK Extends Copyright Terms for Artistic Works In July, the U.K. repealed a provision that provided a shortened term of copyright protection for ‘‘artistic works.’’ Because this change also revives protection that had expired under the old law but would be revived under the new, rights holders in certain industries such as furniture makers may now have resurrected rights that can be asserted against those copying their... Read more

29 June 2016 topical Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics v Abbvie Biotechnology Ltd Since April 2014, it has been possible to file multiple divisional applications from any European patent application pending at the European Patent Office (EPO).   Divisional applications can be filed from a European application which is itself a divisional application.  Further, the EPO’s rules on double patenting are relatively liberal1. In some cases, Applicants have used these rules to file multiple... Read more