Intellectual Property UK

  • April 24, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 23, 2026

    Copyright Deals Can Hinge On EU Contract Laws, AG Says

    An adviser to the European Union's top court clarified on Thursday when judges should interpret the validity of cross-border copyright agreements in line with the bloc's conflict-of-laws rules governing contracts.

  • April 23, 2026

    BAT Unit Beats 'Man Royals International' TM For Cigarettes

    A subsidiary of BAT has convinced European officials to nix an Iraqi manufacturer's trademark for "Man Royals International" over tobacco products after it showed that shoppers might link it to its "Royals" brand.

  • April 23, 2026

    ECJ Says Italian Laws Cannot Extend Preliminary Injunctions

    The European Union's highest court ruled Thursday that bloc members cannot keep preliminary injunctions in place in intellectual property cases once someone has missed the cutoff to formally file a claim.

  • April 23, 2026

    Crocs Loses Appeal Over Clog Similarity To 'Holey Soles'

    A European court has rejected Crocs' bid to regain exclusive rights over a clog-shoe design following a challenge from a rival shoemaker, as an earlier design for shoes branded as "Holey Soles" looked far too similar to the American company's model.

  • April 23, 2026

    Vape Co.'s Lawyer Beats Rival's UKIPO Email Contempt Claim

    A Chinese vape company and its solicitors defeated contempt proceedings over emails that asked the U.K. Intellectual Property Office to delay registering a trademark pending an appeal, as a London judge ruled on Thursday that this was "nothing improper."

  • April 22, 2026

    Biogen Loses Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Patent On Appeal

    European appellate officials have revoked a Biogen patent for a multiple sclerosis treatment, ruling that the pharmaceutical giant had wrongly narrowed its patented claims compared with the more general statements of its first application. 

  • April 22, 2026

    WIPO Head Gets Another Term To Lead UN Agency

    World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Daren Tang has been reappointed to the position after being nominated by its coordination committee earlier this year to again lead the United Nations agency.

  • April 22, 2026

    Nokia Fights English Court's Jurisdiction To Hear RAND Claim

    Nokia told the Court of Appeal on Wednesday that the English courts have no business setting terms to license its suite of video-codec patents to Acer and Asus, marking the latest jurisdictional spat over standard-essential patents to reach the appellate court.

  • April 22, 2026

    Drugmaker Denies Ripping Off Veterinary Injection Patent

    A drugmaker has denied copying a Dechra unit's formula used to treat vomiting in cats and dogs, arguing that the pharmaceutical company never held a valid patent over the formula in the U.K.

  • April 22, 2026

    P&G Beats Coffee Co.'s Bid To Nix Pepto-Bismol TM

    European officials have rejected a Spanish café owner's bid to revoke Procter & Gamble's "Pepto" trademark, ruling that shoppers wouldn't mix it up with "Cafes Pepetto" because coffee products had nothing to do with Pepto-Bismol medication for indigestion.

  • April 21, 2026

    Sports Direct Challenges Costs In 10-Year Polo Club TM Spat

    Counsel for Sports Direct asked the Court of Appeal on Tuesday to reconsider whether the licensing arm of Lifestyle Equities should be awarded costs for prevailing in a decade-old trademark fight over the Beverly Hills Polo Club brand.

  • April 21, 2026

    Airbnb Puts Virtual Reality Co.'s 'Vrbnb' Logo TM To Bed

    Airbnb has persuaded a European Union panel to revoke a French company's "Vrbnb" trademark after arguing that its opponent has failed to use the mark within the bloc in recent years.

  • April 21, 2026

    Distillery Denies Infringing Brewery's 'Titanic' TM

    A British distillery has denied infringing a brewery's "Titanic" trademark covering beers, telling a London court that its own Titanic brand has "peacefully coexisted" in the separate market for gin.

  • April 21, 2026

    Apple Sues Tech Biz In Wireless Charging Licensing Row

    Apple has accused an Israeli tech company of demanding excessive fees for wireless charging patents and using parallel litigation in the U.S. to pressure the iPhone maker into accepting an unfair licensing deal. 

  • April 21, 2026

    TomTom Rebuts £5.2M Royalties Claim From Parking Biz

    TomTom has denied owing £5.2 million ($7 million) in royalties under a licensing agreement with a company that indexes car park locations, arguing at a London court that its opponent owes money under the deal.

  • April 27, 2026

    The 2026 UK Lawyer Satisfaction Survey: Where Do You Stand?

    How is your work-life balance? Are you content with your compensation and opportunities for advancement at work? Take the 2026 Law360 UK Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey and share your thoughts.

  • April 20, 2026

    Abbott Wins Glucose Monitor Sales Ban On Appeal At UPC

    Abbott has persuaded appellate judges at the Unified Patent Court to stop Sinocare selling certain glucose monitoring displays in Europe, proving that its Chinese rival's devices are likely to have infringed its patent.

  • April 20, 2026

    Royal Family Textile Supplier Denies Copying Fern Print

    A fabric and wallpaper supplier for the British royal family has denied claims that it stole a rival's copyrighted designs, arguing that it had independently come up with a wavy pattern of ferns. 

  • April 20, 2026

    Ronaldo's Perfume Gets Red Card In 'Origins' TM Dispute

    A subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies has blocked a "Cristiano Ronaldo Origins" trademark application in the U.K. by showing that the mark could take unfair advantage of its existing "Origins" skincare brand.

  • April 20, 2026

    EU 'Pastiche' Ruling Offers New Tool For Copyright Defense

    The European Union's top court has in principle opened the door for creatives to skirt copyright protections if the use of another's work is considered pastiche, and lawyers expect to see the previously obscure copyright exception become a popular defense.

  • April 20, 2026

    Ferrari Puts Brakes On F355 Kit Car Sales In Netherlands

    Ferrari has persuaded a Dutch court to prevent an opponent from selling kit-car versions of the F355 sports car as it proved that the replica models infringed its copyright over the design of the vehicle.

  • April 17, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen Aston Martin file an appeal in a row with Chinese carmaker Geely over its winged logo for London black cabs, Ineos sue Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team for a £180 million ($244 million) boat, White & Case face a claim from two energy storage companies, and a golf tour company bring a claim against Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund after the fund invested in its rival.

  • April 17, 2026

    Maastricht University Loses Cryogenic Patent To IP Firm

    European appellate officials have nixed a university's patent for a method of freezing biological samples, ruling that it required "extensive experimentation" for a skilled inventor to carry it out and lacked clarity.

  • April 17, 2026

    Aston Martin Sues Shareholder After Wing Logo Row

    Aston Martin has sued in a London court a Chinese rival that uses a winged logo for its electric car brand it failed to convince U.K. IP examiners to nix the trademark, ramping up a dispute between the luxury carmaker and its third-biggest shareholder.

Expert Analysis

  • What's In The Plan To Boost Germany's Commercial Litigation

    Author Photo

    Lawyers at Cleary discuss Germany's recent draft bill, which establishes commercial courts and introduces English as a court language in civil proceedings, and analyze whether it accomplishes the country's goal of becoming a more attractive venue for commercial litigation.

  • Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law

    Author Photo

    An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.

  • Future Paths For AI Inventorship After Justices' Thaler Denial

    Author Photo

    Anup Iyer at Moore & Van Allen examines the current and future state of AI inventorship in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear Thaler v. Vidal, including collaboration, international challenges, and the need for closer examination in research and development-intensive sectors.

  • EU Ruling Highlights Strategic Benefits Of Patent Appeals

    Author Photo

    The European Patent Office board of appeal recently reversed the examining board's ruling in an application by LG Electronics, highlighting how applicants struggling to escape conflicting objection traps at the examination level can improve their chances of a positive outcome with an appeal, says Andrew Rudhall at Haseltine Lake.

  • Series

    In A 'Barbie' World: Boosting IP Value With Publicity Machines

    Author Photo

    Mattel's history of intellectual property monitoring, including its recent challenge against Burberry over the "BRBY" trademark ahead of the "Barbie" film, shows how IP enforcement strategies can be used as publicity to increase brand value and inform potential collaborations, says Carly Duckett at Shepherd and Wedderburn.

  • UPC Revocation Actions Offer An Attractive Patent Strategy

    Author Photo

    As the Unified Patent Court gains momentum after an initial period of nervousness around the recently launched forum, more businesses may be starting to realize the value of running revocation actions as an alternative route to knocking out patents across Europe, say Oliver Laing and Georgia Carr at Potter Clarkson.

  • 5 Takeaways For Litigants From Early EU Patent Court Ruling

    Author Photo

    One of the first Unified Patent Court ex parte preliminary injunctions was recently granted in myStromer v. Revolt Zycling, demonstrating the court's ability to decide cases extremely quickly, but parties should be careful in phrasing their motions and sufficiently substantiating them to achieve the desired result, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.

  • Copyright Cheat Sheet: Finding Substantially Similar Songs

    Author Photo

    Using the recent copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran over his hit song "Thinking Out Loud" as a case study, forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig provides an overview for attorneys of which musical elements do and do not, when altered, create the sense of a new or distinct composition — a determination increasingly sought from experts in court.

  • Barbie Deals Should Remind Brands Of IP Licensing Benefits

    Author Photo

    Mattel Inc.'s recent licensing of the Barbie trademark — one of the biggest licensing campaigns of recent history — illustrates that, as long as risks are managed properly, intellectual property licensing can form part of the overall business strategy and benefit both parties, say Maria Peyman and Anousha Vasantha at Birketts.

  • Lessons On Cricket Patent History And IP Protection At UPC

    Author Photo

    On the heels of the creation of the Unified Patent Court in Europe, Susan Bradley at Marks & Clerk looks at how its development is interwoven with the history of cricket, and why inventors in that field have always taken advantage of the latest developments in intellectual property protection.

  • Factors To Consider In Protecting Software With Trade Secrets

    Author Photo

    With trade secrets protecting subject matter that would not otherwise be eligible for a patent now a mainstay of many multinationals’ intellectual property strategies, software developers have a number of considerations in deciding whether this is a viable alternative to protect their invention, says Dave Clark at Potter Clarkson.

  • A Look At US Injunctive Relief Trends Amid UPC Chatter

    Author Photo

    While much remains to be seen regarding how the new EU Unified Patent Court will treat injunctive relief in practice, recent data shows that the U.S. framework may be turning in favor of injunction, despite a perception that it can be nearly impossible to obtain in the U.S., say Nirav Desai, Patrick Murray and Roberta Lam at Sterne Kessler.

  • Navigating Europe's New Game-Changing Unified Patent Court

    Author Photo

    Europe's recently opened Unified Patent Court has ushered in a new era in patent law focused on the power of provisional relief, and adapting to both broad protections and compressed timelines is essential for plaintiffs and defendants alike, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Copyright Trial Defense Tips From 'Thinking Out Loud' Case

    Author Photo

    The twofold defense strategy that earned Ed Sheeran his recent "Thinking Out Loud" copyright trial victory revealed the strength of a musician's testimony, the importance of a consistent narrative and the power of public policy arguments when combating infringement claims, say Jonathan Phillips and Latrice Burks at Larson.

  • Getty Case Will Be Pivotal For Generative AI Copyright Issues

    Author Photo

    The Getty v. Stability AI litigation in the U.K. and U.S. raises legal ambiguities on who owns generative artificial intelligence output, and the outcomes will set a major precedent on copyright practices for businesses in both countries and beyond, say Victoria Albrecht at Springbok AI and Mark O'Conor at DLA Piper.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property UK archive.