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Intellectual Property UK
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April 25, 2024
Mishcon Hires IP Pro Angela Fox From Maucher Jenkins
Mishcon de Reya LLP said Thursday that it has recruited the former head of dispute resolution at Maucher Jenkins to its intellectual property team, boosting its strengths in a full spectrum of trademark, copyright and design matters.
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April 11, 2024
AI Music Biz Faces Rocky Road In Record Label IP Dispute
If U.K. record labels follow through on a threat to sue AI music company Jammable, experts say the country's first copyright claim over music deepfakes could prove harder to defend than other IP disputes over the new technology.
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April 11, 2024
Hendrix Bandmates Have No Claim To Copyright, Sony Says
The U.K. arm of Sony has hit back at the estates of the former bandmates of Jimi Hendrix in their ongoing copyright feud over the group's back catalog, alleging that the pair consented to producers taking control.
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April 11, 2024
UPC Allows Access To Ocado Docs On Appeal
Ocado has failed to persuade the Unified Patent Court's Court of Appeal that it should block a lawyer's third-party request to access pleadings in a now-settled patent suit, further clarifying the new court's stance on transparency.
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April 10, 2024
Lights Out For Solar Panel Company's Battle To Revive Design
Singapore-based solar panel maker Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd. lost its fight to revive its invalidated panel design Wednesday, with a European Union court ruling that the appearance of its device "lacked individual character."
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April 10, 2024
Medical Device Maker Bids To Stop Rival Selling Product
A Chinese medical device maker urged a London court Wednesday to prevent a U.K. rival from selling its product until the end of its patent infringement claim, arguing that the medical device supplier might undercut its prices.
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April 10, 2024
EU Court Revives German Kitchen Biz's 'MH Cuisines' TM Hopes
A German kitchen specialist can proceed to registering its "MH Cuisines" trademark after persuading a European Union court on Wednesday to overturn an earlier ruling that consumers could confuse the sign with a rival's "MM Cuisines" logo.
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April 10, 2024
Petrochem Co. Can't Nix Vagisil Maker's TM For Teens
Combe International LLC can register the trademark "OMV! By Vagisil" after European officials ruled there was a "profound distance" between its feminine hygiene creams and the petrochemical products sold by a similarly named company.
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April 10, 2024
Door Handle Maker Grips Design Victory On Appeal
A Czech manufacturer won its appeal Wednesday to reinstate design protections for a door handle after a European court ruled that differences in the angles of the grip and neck were significant enough to merit protection.
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April 10, 2024
EUIPO Wrongly Skimmed Dairy Biz's 'Rebell' TM, Court Says
A European Union court has restored a dairy company's "Rebell" protection, ruling on Wednesday that intellectual property officials failed to explain why they narrowed the scope of the trademark for lack of use amid a beef company's protests.
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April 09, 2024
Chinese Co. Wants To Nix Abbott's 3D TM For Diabetes Tech
A group of Chinese companies hit back at Abbott's claims that they copied a 3D trademark for a continuous glucose monitoring device, arguing that the product's features shouldn't be protected in the first place.
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April 09, 2024
Canine Toilet Biz City Doggo Bites Back At Rival's TM Claim
A company that makes grass toilets for dogs has hit back at its competitor, after the rival business accused it of ripping off its natural pee patch featured on the BBC TV show "Dragons' Den."
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April 16, 2024
Freeths Hires Murgitroyd Atty As Patents Director
Freeths LLP has appointed a new director of patents with more than 16 years of experience advising clients such as Nokia and Rolls-Royce, marking the latest addition to the firm's growth strategy.
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April 09, 2024
Kigen, Thales Settle Dispute Over SIM Card Standard Patent
A U.K. tech company and a subsidiary of French electronic giant Thales Group have settled their dispute over fair licensing terms for standard-essential technology used to remotely activate SIM cards in mobile phones.
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April 09, 2024
Medical Device Maker Fights Kidney Stone Tech Patent Claim
A U.K. medical device maker has denied that its bladder stone-removing technology infringes a Chinese rival's patent for a similar-looking product, saying it will continue to put its devices on the market.
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April 09, 2024
Gaming Co. Fires Back In 'Burning Hot' TM Clash With Rival
A casino gaming business has hit back at a challenge to the validity of its "Mini Burning Hot" trademark, arguing that its rival is trying to relitigate earlier proceedings and alleging that the competitor's U.K. trademark protections are invalid.
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April 08, 2024
Nivea Wins 'KiiLTO' TM Spat Over Reputational Risks
Nivea brand owner Beiersdorf on Monday successfully opposed a Finnish chemical products manufacturer's trademark "KiiLTO Airi" after European officials found the mark likely to "tarnish" the skincare brand's reputation.
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April 08, 2024
Netherlands Top Court Says No Copyright In Balloon Filler
The Netherlands' top court rejected a product developer's bid to copyright its water balloon filler, "Bunch-O-Balloons," after finding that most of the inventor's decisions were technical rather than spurred by creativity.
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April 08, 2024
Ferrero Tastes Defeat In Nutella TM Opposition
Ferrero can't stop a man from registering a trademark for "Mozartella" after European officials ruled that buyers wouldn't confuse it with the Nutella chocolate brand, even though he used it to market chocolate spreads.
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April 08, 2024
Packaging Biz Seals EPO Win In Paper-Coating Patent Feud
A packaging company has fought off a rival's challenge to its patent for oil-resistant paper after persuading a European Patent Office appeals panel that the makeup of the binding material for its compound was inventive.
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April 08, 2024
Biotech Biz Sensorion Raises €15M From Existing Investors
French biotech firm Sensorion SA said Monday that it has raised €15 million ($16.2 million) through a share offering to existing institutional investors to fund its research and development until the end of 2025.
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April 05, 2024
Bayer Can't Block Generic Xarelto, And Has Patent Nixed
Bayer can't stop a French generic-drug maker from putting a cheaper version of its blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto on pharmacy shelves, after a French court nixed its dosage patent.
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April 05, 2024
Edwards Gets EPO To Nix Abbott Unit's Heart Valve Patent
Edwards Lifesciences has persuaded a European Patent Office appeals panel to block an Abbott unit's prosthetic heart valve patent application, after proving that the design was not new.
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April 05, 2024
Amazon Cloud Computing Patent Powered Down On Appeal
Amazon has lost its fight to patent a method of pre-launching cloud computing services, with a European patent authority appeals board concluding that the invention did not take an inventive step beyond existing technology.
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April 05, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen the BBC sued by former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili, Russian businessman Ildar Sharipov file a defamation claim against the publisher of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, MEX Group Worldwide sue Barclays and NatWest, and a climbing gear company hit retailer Next with a claim of copyright infringement. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
Expert Analysis
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Examining EU's Drift Toward US-Style Employer Pact Scrutiny
As European Union competition authorities express enforcement interest in employment issues such as no-poach and wage-fixing agreements — which have been the subject of U.S. enforcement action for some time — companies may need to recalibrate their training and compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What SEP Holders Can Take Away From UK's Apple Ruling
A U.K. court's recent decision in the standard essential patent dispute between Apple and Optis Cellular Technology provides encouragement for SEP owners litigating their portfolios in the U.K. and reaffirms the country's place as a patentee-friendly jurisdiction, says Tess Waldron at Powell Gilbert.
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AI Inventorship Decision Leaves Open Questions
A Virginia federal court's recent decision in Thaler v. Iancu, finding that artificial intelligence cannot be named as a patent inventor, highlights questions that will have to be answered as AI increasingly contributes to inventorship, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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What Patent Applications Signal About Green Energy Trends
Steadily increasing patent activity related to clean energy technologies suggests that the proportion of energy derived from green sources will also continue to grow — but smaller companies could be locked out of the patent race, even as sustainability becomes an inescapable business imperative, says Greg Sharp at Haseltine Lake.
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Takeaways On Pre-Action Protocols From UK Patent Ruling
The U.K. High Court's recent patent ruling in Add2 Research v. dSpace instructs parties in proper pre-action discussions that avoid breaches of protocol, including how to provide materials in confidence, say Angela Jack and Emily Atherton at EIP.
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6 Ways To Guide Applications Under New Patent Classification
Intellectual property practitioners can navigate the recently implemented Cooperative Patent Classification system to direct applications to specific prior art units within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, avoid especially difficult units, and improve clients' portfolios in newly emerging technologies, say Roberta Young and Brian Michaelis at Seyfarth.
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Mitigating User Content Risk After EU Copyright Directive
As the deadline approaches for member states to implement the European Union’s new copyright directive, which will hold certain online content service providers liable for copyright infringement pertaining to user-uploaded content, companies should have risk-mitigation strategies in place, say attorneys at MoFo.
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The Pandemic's Bright Spots For Lawyers Who Are Parents
The COVID-19 crisis has allowed lawyers to hone remote advocacy strategies and effectively represent clients with minimal travel — abilities that have benefited working parents and should be utilized long after the pandemic is over, says Chelsea Loughran at Wolf Greenfield.
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ITC Seems Unlikely To Stay Investigations For Parallel IPRs
The U.S. International Trade Commission's recent order denying Ocado's attempt to stay a dispute with AutoStore pending resolution of its inter partes review petitions signals that an ITC complainant's patents are effectively shielded from IPR challenges, at least under current Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.
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A Framework For Evaluating Willingness Of FRAND Licensees
As an increasing number of standard-essential patent cases turn on whether a manufacturer is willing to pay a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory royalty for SEPs, Jorge Contreras at the University of Utah identifies conduct that typically indicates willingness or unwillingness, as well as conduct that should be viewed as indeterminate.
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Opinion
US Should Learn From German Courts Balancing SEP Rights
The German high court's recent decision in Sisvel v. Haier set a productive tone in balancing the rights of patentees and implementers in standard-essential patent disputes, and its understanding of negotiation realities should be followed by the U.S., say Cravath's David Kappos, former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, and Daniel Etcovitch.
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Examining EPO's Strict Approach To AI Patent Disclosure
Because a recent decision by the European Patent Office Boards of Appeal takes a potentially problematic strict approach to disclosure requirements for machine learning-related patent applications, U.S. applicants filing in the EU should disclose several specific data training sets, says Ronny Amirsehhi at Clifford Chance.
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ITC Dispute May Lead To PTAB Litigation Strategy Shifts
A pending motion to stay the dispute between AutoStore and Ocado at the U.S. International Trade Commission highlights competing timelines of the ITC and Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and has the potential to reshape the typical forum selection strategies for patentees and defense tactics for challengers, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.
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Opinion
US Courts Should Adjudicate FRAND Rates On A Global Basis
Following the U.K. Supreme Court's recent Unwired Planet v. Huawei decision, U.S. courts should analyze compliance with contracts on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms by assessing them on a worldwide basis, because global licenses are the only technically and financially sound way to license standard-essential patents, say attorneys at McKool Smith.
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UK Top Court Ruling May Be Problematic For Global SEP Suits
There are several reasons to question the wisdom of the U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling that English judges have the power to set extraterritorial licensing royalty rates for standard-essential patents, including that it encourages forum shopping, says Thomas Cotter at the University of Minnesota Law School.