Intellectual Property UK

  • July 25, 2025

    UPC's Readiness To Ban Sales In UK Upends Britain's IP Role

    Multinational companies could reconsider the need to bring patent proceedings in the U.K. after the Unified Patent Court granted an injunction barring sales in Britain — raising questions about the country's decision to quit the international patent court.

  • July 25, 2025

    L'Oréal Sees Patent For Hair Dye Cut In Schwarzkopf Spat

    European officials have rejected L'Oréal's bid to revive a patent over a more resistant hair dye, ruling that chemists at the time would have also thought of using a special compound to achieve these benefits.

  • July 25, 2025

    EasyGroup Settles Trademark Claim Against Postal Co.

    EasyGroup has settled its claim against U.S. postal technology company EasyPost, which the budget conglomerate accused of infringing its "easy" family of trademarks.

  • July 25, 2025

    Impossible Foods Loses Case For 'Impossible Bakers' TM

    A Spanish bakery has beaten an attempt by plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods Inc. to nix its "Impossible Bakers" trademark as a European court found that shoppers would distinguish the signs even when they were stamped on identical pastry products.

  • July 25, 2025

    Urban Outfitters 'Maeve' Brand Trumps Rival's TM

    Clothing chain Urban Outfitters has convinced European officials to ax a rival trademark application for 'MEVE' after demonstrating that consumers might confuse it with its Anthropologie furniture brand.

  • July 24, 2025

    EasyGroup Gets TMs Revived In Pair Of UK Appeals

    A Court of Appeal panel on Thursday granted easyGroup victories in two separate disputes over its family of brands, reviving several trademarks and upholding some of its infringement claims.

  • July 24, 2025

    Ford Wins EU Fight Over 'Cobra' Trademark Against AC Cars

    Ford has survived a British car manufacturer's challenge to its "Cobra" trademarks in the European Union, convincing officials it has made proper use of the brand in the trade bloc.

  • July 24, 2025

    Thaler Claims Inventorship Of AI Patent After DABUS Ruling

    Counsel for Stephen Thaler told a London court on Thursday that the computer scientist should be able to get divisional patent protections for the inventions he initially claimed were created by DABUS, his own artificial intelligence model.

  • July 24, 2025

    Winery, Distributor Copied Artists' Work For Bottle Label

    British artist Shantell Martin won on Thursday her case that an Argentinian winemaker and a U.K. distributor copied her black-and-white line drawing style for bottle labels, as a London court ruled that the businesses had infringed her copyright.

  • July 24, 2025

    Acer Asks Court To Set FRAND License For Nokia Patents

    Acer has asked a London court to order Nokia to offer a license for its essential video coding patents, also arguing that the court should set fair terms for a global deal amid international litigation between the pair.

  • July 24, 2025

    Pet Shop Owner Missed Deadline For 'Ultimate-Nutrition' TM

    U.K. officials have sided with sports nutrition company Ultimate Nutrition Inc. to block an application for a trademark from a pet shop owner after she failed to explain why she missed a deadline for her defense.

  • July 23, 2025

    Astellas Beats Generics' Bid To Nix Cancer Drug Patent

    Generic-drug makers on Wednesday failed to convince a London appellate judge to nix remaining protections for Astellas Pharma's blockbuster prostate cancer treatment Xtandi because the evidence provided was "tainted with hindsight."

  • July 23, 2025

    GSK Can't Breathe Life Into Inhaler TM At EU Court

    A European Union court on Wednesday blocked a GlaxoSmithKline unit's latest attempt to revive a 3D trademark over a purple inhaler, upholding a ruling that the design isn't distinctive.

  • July 23, 2025

    Pernod Ricard Wins Appeal To Block Rival's TM At EU Court

    A European Union court halted on Wednesday a gin company's "The King of Soho" trademark application, overturning an "unintelligible" decision to throw out Pernod Ricard's protests.

  • July 23, 2025

    Cisco Joins Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 Patent Pool With Licensing Deal

    Patent pool operator Sisvel said Tuesday it has signed a license for Wi-Fi 6 technology with Cisco Systems Inc., following a string of patent disputes involving the U.S. tech conglomerate.

  • July 23, 2025

    Developer Accuses Payment App Of 'Cynical' Data Theft Claim

    A former consultant with a company that provides card payment services to taxi drivers has accused it of "opportunistically" launching a legal claim to stifle his legitimate business, denying he stole proprietary information to develop his system.

  • July 23, 2025

    Channel 5 Sued For Infringing Hurricane Footage Copyright

    A weather film company led by a storm chaser has sued British broadcaster Channel 5 after it showed footage he had filmed of Hurricane Beryl in 2024 without paying for a license, a year after it filed similar claims against Reuters. 

  • July 22, 2025

    WTO Finds China's Anti-Suit Injunctions Violate TRIPS

    China's use of anti-suit injunctions in patent litigation violates an international intellectual property agreement, according to arbitrators at the World Trade Organization.

  • July 22, 2025

    Samsung Asks ETSI To Force ZTE Into License Or Nix Rights

    Samsung has asked Europe's telecommunications standards body to force Chinese tech firm ZTE to grant it a fair license over essential cellular patents, after a London judge said ZTE was acting in bad faith and waging "trench warfare."

  • July 22, 2025

    SAP Sues Startup For IP Infringement Amid US Antitrust Suit

    German software giant SAP SE has sued a smaller rival for patent infringement in Europe's patent court, as it defends against U.S. claims that it is pushing the competitor out of the vaguely defined market for business process analysis service.

  • July 22, 2025

    UKIPO Warns AI Patent Appeal Is A 'Recipe For Disaster'

    Counsel for the U.K.'s intellectual property authority lambasted an AI company's bid to replace the country's established tests for determining whether an invention is patentable, as a high-profile AI patent trial before the U.K. Supreme Court draws to a close.

  • July 22, 2025

    Artist Can't Appeal Fake 'Fishrot' Apology Copyright Breach

    A performance artist can't appeal a decision that he infringed the copyright of Iceland's largest fishing company by creating a spoof corruption apology about the company's involvement in bribing Namibian officials, a London court ruled Tuesday.

  • July 22, 2025

    Nokia Sues Chinese Carmaker Geely For Patent Infringement

    Nokia said Tuesday it has sued Chinese automaker Geely in Germany and at the Unified Patent Court, accusing the company of using its cellular technology without permission.

  • July 22, 2025

    UPC Issues 1st Injunction Covering UK In Kodak Case

    The Unified Patent Court has wielded its long-arm jurisdiction by issuing its first-ever injunction covering Britain as it banned Kodak from selling printing plates that infringe the U.K. part of Fujifilm's European patent.

  • July 22, 2025

    Bayer Challenges Generics' Profit Claims In Xarelto Dispute

    Bayer argued at a London court Tuesday that a request from Sandoz that it hand over its profits from an invalidated blood-thinning patent should be rejected because this would go beyond what the two pharmaceutical giants had agreed.

Expert Analysis

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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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