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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
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
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
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
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
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
Brits Abroad – Where do UK-based Applicants File for Patents?
Brits Abroad – Where do UK-based Applicants File for Patents? Following on from our article “Decline of the Garden Shed Inventor“, (see here), a second research report from the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) provides further analysis of the filing behaviours of UK-based patent applicants over the last 20 years. Whilst many of the report’s findings will be no surprise to those familiar with standard patent filing strategies, the report... Read more
Spotlight on Sustainability at Tokyo 2020
Spotlight on Sustainability at Tokyo 2020 Aside from the achievements in the sporting events, Tokyo 2020 is noteworthy for the spotlight it put on sustainability. Symbolic items – podiums, torches, medals – were made using recycled materials. The Olympic flame was relayed in a torch of recycled aluminium from prefabricated housing units in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Athletes stepped onto podiums... Read more
Medicinal Cannabis – an Old Crop Turns Over a New Leaf
Medicinal Cannabis – an Old Crop Turns Over a New Leaf “Medicinal cannabis” is often used as a broad catch-all term used for any kind of cannabis-based medicine used to provide a therapeutic effect, rather than for purely recreational use. Human beings have been using cannabis for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Indeed, cannabis appears in the oldest Chinese pharmacopoeia from around 100 AD and is one of the fifty... Read more
Open Source and Patents: Share Your Cake and Eat It Too
Open Source and Patents: Share Your Cake and Eat It Too The open-source movement has been around for decades and has provided freedom to users and programmers to use and develop existing software. Unlike industries involving physical products, the low barrier of entry to software development and distribution has meant that many users find themselves having the knowledge and resources to contribute to software development, but at times prevented from doing... Read more