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Intellectual Property UK
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July 08, 2024
Aga Proves Converted Cooker Marketing Infringed TM
Stove manufacturer Aga has won its claim for trademark infringement against a company selling electronic conversion kits for its ovens, persuading a London court that its marketing wrongly suggested that the two businesses were linked.
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July 08, 2024
Whisky Biz Can't Stop Rival Distillery Getting 'Spey' UK TM
A distillery has fought off a rival Scotch whisky producer's challenge to its "Spey" U.K. trademark hopes as it proved there was no likelihood of confusion with its opponent's earlier "Speymhor" trademark.
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July 05, 2024
Xiaomi Won't Get Interim 4G Patent License From Panasonic
A London court on Friday declined to award Xiaomi an interim license to use Panasonic's 4G tech ahead of the companies' upcoming patent trial, ruling that Panasonic is not acting in bad faith by holding out for better terms.
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July 05, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen collapsed sports television company Arena Television hit Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank with a claim, James Vorley, the Deutsche Bank metals trader convicted of fraud, sue his former employer, and journalist John Ware file a defamation claim against Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters and Al Jazeera Media Network. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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July 05, 2024
Matrix KC Richard Hermer Tapped For Attorney General
Matrix Chambers' human rights barrister Richard Hermer KC will serve as the U.K.'s attorney general in a surprise appointment from newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer late Friday.
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July 05, 2024
Peter Kyle To Oversee IP, AI Atop UK Innovation Dept.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has selected Peter Kyle as the new secretary of state for innovation who will have responsibility for intellectual property and artificial intelligence matters, Labour's landslide victory in Thursday's election.
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July 05, 2024
U. Of Arizona Beats Patent Office Challenge To Trifocal Lens
The University of Arizona has beaten a challenge by an Australian intellectual property firm to its patent for a type of multifocal lens after officials at the European Patent Office rejected the law firm's argument that the patent contained several contradictions.
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July 05, 2024
Shabana Mahmood Named Labour's New Justice Secretary
Prime Minister Keir Starmer named former barrister Shabana Mahmood as the Labour government's new justice secretary on Friday following a sweeping victory in the U.K. general election.
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July 05, 2024
A&O Shearman-Led GSK Signs €1.4B Deal For Vaccines
British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline has amended its collaboration agreement with German biopharmaceutical company CureVac to acquire full rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize globally the candidate vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 in an approximately €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) deal.
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July 05, 2024
Starmer Starts Work As Cabinet Appointments Expected
Keir Starmer, the newly elected prime minister, promised change that focuses on the economy and wealth creation as he prepared on Friday to begin appointing cabinet ministers to form the Labour Party's first government since 2010.
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July 05, 2024
Honeywell Told Operating System Too Unclear For A Patent
Honeywell has failed to secure a European patent for an operating system on a computer that can juggle multiple tasks at the same time, as officials ruled that its system of "threads" is not clear enough to understand.
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July 04, 2024
IP Owners Not Sold On Labour Plans To Tackle AI Regs
The new Labour government has come into office emphasizing the need for safe artificial intelligence, but lawyers say the party must explain just how it will tackle mounting concerns about intellectual property and safety with the emerging technology.
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July 04, 2024
Labour Sweeps Tories From Power In UK Election Rout
Keir Starmer was poised to become Britain's next prime minister on Friday after his Labour Party ousted Rishi Sunak's Conservatives in a landslide general election victory, ending 14 years of Tory government with a pledge of "national renewal."
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July 04, 2024
Dexcom Patent Invalidated In UPC's 2nd Merits Ruling
The Unified Patent Court ruled on Thursday that a patent for continuous glucose monitoring technology that Dexcom had accused rival Abbott of infringing was invalid, in the young court's second-ever ruling on the merits of a claim.
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July 04, 2024
Abbott Settles UPC Claim With Rival On Glucose Monitor Tech
Two makers of medical devices have agreed to stop selling glucose-monitoring devices in several European countries after settling a case with Abbott Diabetes Care Inc. at a German division of the Unified Patent Court.
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July 04, 2024
Sony's Case Against Headphone Biz TM Falls On Deaf Ears
European officials have rejected Sony's bid to nix a trademark for "Vieta" that is owned by a Spanish headphone and speaker retailer, ruling that there was no evidence the rival had dishonestly filed it a decade ago.
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July 04, 2024
Nokia Accuses Amazon Of 'Hijacking' Infringement Case
A Nokia subsidiary asked a London court on Thursday to strike out Amazon's attempt to compel it to license patents for Prime Video, arguing that the U.S. multinational had "hijacked" its infringement claim over the technology to force it into a deal.
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July 04, 2024
E.ON Gets 'Eyon' EU TM Dismissed Over Identical Sound
Energy company E.ON has prevented an electronics manufacturer from keeping its "Eyon" trademark protections in the European Union after persuading officials that consumers could confuse the sign with its earlier "E.ON One" mark.
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July 04, 2024
Tech Co. Knew IP Woes From Soured Deal, AI Video Biz Says
An AI video analytics business has told a London court that a security technology company it accused of failing to pay up after acquiring its intellectual property should have been aware that its CCTV-analyzing technology might contain bugs.
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July 03, 2024
Ericsson Prefers US FRAND Terms, Rejects Lenovo Attacks
Ericsson has fought claims that it refuses to negotiate fair licensing terms with Lenovo and abuses its ownership of standard essential patents for 5G technologies, the latest development in a long-running feud between the companies.
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July 03, 2024
British Life Science Investor Syncona Unit Raises $170M
Medical technology company Beacon Therapeutics has raised approximately £134 million ($170 million) in its second round of funding from new and existing investors including venture capital firms and the University of Oxford, its parent company Syncona said in a statement Wednesday.
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July 03, 2024
EasyGroup Beats Cosmetic Co.'s Challenge To 'EasyJet' TM
EasyJet's parent company has beaten a challenge to the airline's trademark after European intellectual property officials tossed a Swiss cosmetics business' claim that only third party companies used the mark.
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July 03, 2024
Nvidia Claws Back 'GT' TM Hopes After Clash With Leica
Nvidia has revived swathes of its potential "GT" trademark protections after Leica Biosystems Imaging initially left its application hanging by a thread, proving that there is no chance of confusion with the identical signs where the goods of both companies are dissimilar.
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July 03, 2024
UPC Issues 1st Injunction On Merits In Bath Fittings Case
The Unified Patent Court handed down its first full judgment on the merits on Wednesday just over a year after its inception, issuing an injunction against a German bath and shower manufacturer.
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July 02, 2024
Shelving Biz Hits Rival With Design Infringement Claim
An Australian shelving manufacturer has sued a British rival for registered design infringement, arguing that certain shelving support bars being offered on the rival's U.K. website copy significant features of its intellectual property without consent.
Expert Analysis
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Breaking Down The EPO's Revised Practice Guidelines
The European Patent Office's updated guidelines for examination recently took effect and include significant changes related to the priority right presumption, the concept of plausibility and artificial intelligence, providing invaluable insight on obtaining patents from the office, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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UK Amazon Ruling Spotlights TM Rights In International Sales
Highlighting the conflict between the territorial nature of trademark rights and the borderless nature of the internet, the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision — that Amazon's U.S. website could infringe EU and U.K. rights by targeting local buyers — offers guidance on navigating trademark rights in relation to online sales, say Emmy Hunt, Mark Kramer and Jordan Mitchell at Potter Clarkson.
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Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation
While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.
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Design Rights Can Build IP Protection, EU Lego Ruling Shows
The EU General Court's recent ruling in Delta Sport v. EU Intellectual Property Office — that Lego's registered community design for a building block was valid — helps clarify when technically dictated designs can enjoy IP protection, and demonstrates how companies can strategically use design rights to protect and enhance their market position, says Christoph Moeller at Mewburn Ellis.
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ECJ Ruling Clarifies Lawyer Independence Questions
The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in Bonnanwalt v. EU Intellectual Property Office, finding that a law firm had maintained independence despite being owned by its client, serves as a pivotal reference point to understanding the contours of legal representation before EU courts, say James Tumbridge and Benedict Sharrock-Harris at Venner Shipley.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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Patent Plausibility Uncertainty Persists, EPO Petition Shows
While a recent petition for review at the European Patent Office — maintaining that the Board of Appeal misapplied the Enlarged Board of Appeal's order on whether a patent is "plausible" — highlights the continued uncertainty surrounding the plausibility concept, the outcome could provide useful guidance on the interpretation of orders, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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UMG-TikTok IP Rift Highlights Effective Rights Control Issues
Despite Universal Music Group's recent withdrawal of TikTok's licensing rights to its music catalog, the platform struggles to control uploads and reproductions of copyrighted material, highlighting the inherent tension between creative freedom and effective rights control in the age of social media, says Simon Goodbody at Bray & Krais.
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Bribery Class Action Ruling May Revive Bifurcated Processes
The Court of Appeal's recent decision allowing the representative bribery action in Commission Recovery v. Marks & Clerk offers renewed hope for claimants to advance class claims using a bifurcated process amid its general absence as of late, say Jon Gale and Justin Browne at Ashurst.
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Ocado Appeal Outcome Will Gauge UPC Transparency
As the sole Unified Patent Court case concerning third-party requests for court records, the forthcoming appeal decision in Ocado v. Autostore will hopefully set out a clear and consistent way to handle reasoned requests, as access to nonconfidential documents will surely lead to more efficient conduct of proceedings, says Tom Brazier at EIP.
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Businesses Using AI Face Novel Privacy, Cybersecurity Risks
Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence are resulting in complex privacy and cybersecurity challenges for businesses, and with the forthcoming EU AI Act and enhancement of existing laws to ensure a high common level of security, key stakeholders should be empowered to manage associated risks, say lawyers at Goodwin.
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Following The Road Map Toward Quantum Security
With the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent publication of a white paper on a quantum-secure financial sector, firms should begin to consider the quantum transition early — before the process is driven by regulatory obligations — with the goal of developing a cybersecurity architecture that is agile while also allowing for quantum security, say lawyers at Cleary.
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AI Is Outpacing IP Law Frameworks
In Thaler v. Comptroller-General, the U.K. Supreme Court recently ruled that artificial intelligence can't be an inventor, but the discussion on the relationship between AI and intellectual property law is far from over, and it's clear that technology is developing faster than the legal framework, says Stephen Carter at The Intellectual Property Works.
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New Reduced EPO Fees May Shift Applicant Demographics
The upcoming European Patent Office fee reduction scheme, aimed at helping smaller organizations access the patent system, is a positive step that could help shift the applicant demographic, which has typically been dominated by larger businesses, says Annabel Williams at Marks & Clerk.
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Mitigating And Managing Risks Of AI Use In Private Equity
While generative artificial intelligence has the ability to transform private equity firms and their portfolio companies, its deployment brings inherent risks, including those presented by the forthcoming EU AI Act, requiring appropriate risk management strategies, processes and policies to be adopted, says Barry Fishley at Weil.