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Intellectual Property UK
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April 04, 2024
Gambling Biz Says Rival, Ex-Employees Copied Game Code
An online gambling company has sued two former members of staff and its rival for allegedly plagiarizing copyrighted source code for its "Slingo" online betting game to produce several competing products.
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April 03, 2024
Genmab Builds Oncology Portfolio With $1.8B Deal
Danish biotechnology company Genmab announced Wednesday that it would acquire private cancer drugmaker ProfoundBio for $1.8 billion in cash, a move set to beef up Genmab's oncology portfolio and position the company as a competitor to other biotech companies that have made similar deals in the antibody drug conjugate space in recent months.
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April 03, 2024
Jacob & Co. Can't Get TM Over Name For Alcohol Venture
High-end jeweler Jacob & Co. can't register a trademark of its name over spirits after European officials ruled that a German company selling "Jacobi"-branded spirits had already established a presence in the market.
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April 03, 2024
IP Firm Reddie & Grose Names New Chairman, Eyes Growth
Intellectual property boutique Reddie & Grose LLP has appointed Steve Howe as its next chairman, one of a series of senior promotions the business has made as it continues its growth push in the U.K. and Europe.
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April 03, 2024
EUIPO Director Seeks Clarity On TM Rules, In An Office First
The executive director of the European Union's Intellectual Property Office has for the first time asked the office's Grand Board to clarify parts of the bloc's trademark rules, seeking guidance on when an EU-wide application can be converted into national requests.
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April 03, 2024
Uber Loses Some European TM Protections For Its Name
Ride-hailing giant Uber has failed to persuade the European Union that it should retain a suite of broad trademarks for its name, with the bloc's intellectual property body deciding to trim down protections for computer software and telecommunications.
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April 03, 2024
Valrhona's Bid For 3D Mold TM Melts At UKIPO
Valrhona has failed to register a 3D oval-shaped trademark after the U.K. intellectual property office ruled that it was a common mold in the industry and consumers would not link the cocoa bean lookalike to the premium French chocolatier.
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April 02, 2024
L'Oreal Holds Off Competitor's Objections To Hair Dye Patent
A Japanese cosmetics brand failed to foil a L'Oreal hair-dyeing patent after European officials ruled that the invention to even out color satisfied all requirements, even if it didn't specify minimum concentrations for certain ingredients.
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April 02, 2024
Molson Coors Blocks Stone Brewing TM In UK
California's Stone Brewing Co. could not convince the U.K.'s Intellectual Property Office to register a trademark for its own name, after drinks rival Molson Coors argued that it could be confused with existing trademarks it owns for the word "Stones."
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April 02, 2024
Shell-Exxon Joint Venture Fends Off Fuel Additive IP Attack
An Exxon Mobil and Shell joint venture has successfully fought off attempts by competitors to invalidate its patent for a diesel fuel additive, with a European Patent Office appeals board ruling that the additive was inventive enough for protection.
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April 02, 2024
Blur Drummer Leads Competition Challenge Over Royalties
The drummer for an English rock band is leading a legal challenge on behalf of songwriters, claiming that a society that collects royalties for artists has been unfairly distributing cash, according to details published by the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
ASOS Loses Appeal For Topshop TM In Europe
Online retailer ASOS has lost a second bid for trademark protection over the fashion brand name Topshop, with the European intellectual property authority saying the name lacks any distinctive character and simply means "an excellent store."
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March 28, 2024
House Of Fraser Loses Bid To Broaden 'BIBA' EU Trademark
House of Fraser can't broaden its "BIBA" trademark because consumers could confuse the sign with an earlier "BiBA" logo that appears on similar goods, a European Union appeals panel has ruled.
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March 28, 2024
British Biz Hits Back At Chinese Co. In LED Mask Design Fight
A British businesswoman has hit back at a Chinese light-therapy device manufacturer's claim that she misused its designs for an LED mask and bib, telling a London court she was always the rightful owner of the designs.
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March 28, 2024
Questel Partners With AI Workflow Automation Software Maker
Intellectual property software provider Questel has partnered with a workflow automation software maker to help IP lawyers automate more document-based tasks with artificial intelligence, according to statements from both companies.
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March 28, 2024
4 Questions For Bristows' Commercial IP Experts
Bristows LLP intellectual property leaders Matthew Warren and Robert Burrows have seen much change in their decades of advising clients, but they say the pace has “increased significantly” in recent years. Here, they talk to Law360 about artificial intelligence, the latest developments in FRAND disputes and other trends in IP litigation.
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March 28, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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March 28, 2024
Locksmith Hits Back At Security Biz In Key Copy Patent Feud
A locksmith service has denied infringing an Austrian security company's patent by cutting copies of a key design, telling a court it could not have known the key was patent-protected and saying that the patent is invalid either way.
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March 27, 2024
Bayer Can Briefly Stop Rivals Selling Patented Xarelto Dosage
Bayer AG can briefly block its rivals from selling generic versions of anticoagulant Xarelto at its protected once-daily dosage while both sides await a ruling on the validity of the patent, a London court said on Wednesday.
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March 27, 2024
BoE Finds Increasing Fear Of Financial Risk From AI
The Bank of England said on Wednesday the proportion of banks, insurers and other firms that find artificial intelligence one of the greatest risks to the finance system has doubled in six months.
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March 27, 2024
Sainsbury's Says Mandarins Not From Protected Variety
Sainsbury's has hit back at accusations that a variety of its mandarin oranges infringe on the plant breeding rights of a French company, arguing that its Tang Golds are intrinsically different from the protected Nadorcotts owned by Nador Cott Protection SAS.
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March 27, 2024
Wine Drunk By Queen Elizabeth Triumphs In EU TM Spat
European intellectual property officials have dismissed efforts by a Dutch drinks maker to register its beverages with the trademark "Petrus" after finding that consumers could confuse the brand with wines made by the famous Bordeaux vineyard.
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March 27, 2024
Skyscanner Stands Firm In TM Infringement Feud With Rival
Skyscanner Ltd. has doubled down on its claim that rival travel agency Loveholidays infringed its trademark by adopting a similar logo, while also refuting its competitor's claim that the imitation was actually the other way around.
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March 26, 2024
Nokia Loses Bid To Patent Telecoms Device Invention
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy has failed to win patent protection for an invention related to a new wireless transmission method, after European officials ruled that the company's amendments had gone beyond what was originally claimed.
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March 26, 2024
Pet Drug Maker Faces EU Probe For Axing Pipeline Dog Med
The European Union's antitrust authority said Tuesday it has launched a probe into whether Zoetis Inc. had illegally blocked competition by acquiring a pipeline product designed to treat pain in dogs and axing a potential rival's deal to sell it.
Expert Analysis
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Trademark Ruling Brings Clarity To Product Defect Liability
The recent Court of Justice of the EU ruling in Fennia v. Philips, its first concerning the trademark aspect of producer liability in Article 3(1) of Directive 85/374, brings greater clarity to the question of compensation in the event of a claim for defective products, say Radboud Ribbert and Thomas van Weeren at Greenberg Traurig.
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Appointments Shape EU Unified Patent Court Before Launch
A series of judiciary appointments at the EU Unified Patent Court help put the court on track for its April opening, while also reflecting a patent-friendly enforcement system, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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5 Considerations In Preparing For EU's New Patent System
With the upcoming implementation of the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court, Europe gets closer to its long-term goal of one EU patent that can be enforced in one court, and non-EU patent owners and applicants will have strategic decisions to make, say Fabian Koenigbauer at Ice Miller and Thomas Kronberger at Grünecker.
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Reexamining Negative Limitations After Novartis Patent Ruling
The Federal Circuit's decision and denial of rehearing in Novartis v. Accord has created exacting standards that must be met in order for negative limitations in patent claims to satisfy the written description requirement, but whether the dissent is correct that the majority opinion heightened the standard is an arguable point, say Jonathan Fitzgerald and Jaime Choi at Snell & Wilmer.
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UK Courts' 3rd-Party Disclosure Rule Sets Global Precedent
The quiet change about to take place in the English Civil Procedure Rules, enabling U.K. courts to require pre-action disclosure of information from overseas third parties, is uncharted territory and will have profound implications for any organization that handles assets on behalf of a party, says Simon Bushell at Seladore Legal.
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Zara TM Ruling Shows Prefiling Clearance Is Always Advisable
The recent Trade Mark Tribunal decision regarding Zara and House of Zana demonstrates the importance of conducting prefiling clearance investigations, so that where opposition may be anticipated, a strategy can be put in place, says Melanie Harvey at Birketts.
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Dutch Merger May Promote Behavioral Remedies Across EU
A Dutch tribunal's recent clearing of the Sanoma-Iddink deal might further encourage merging parties in the EU to offer — and government agencies to accept — behavioral remedies, which was rarer when more emphasis was put on divestments, says Robert Hardy at Greenberg Traurig.
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How Will UK Address AI Patent Infringement?
As artificial intelligence-related patent litigation activity inevitably approaches, a review of U.K. principles of direct and indirect liability offers insight into how courts may address questions involving cloud-based technology and arguments related to training AI models, say Alexander Korenberg at Kilburn & Strode and Toby Bond at Bird & Bird.
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Law Commission's 'Data Objects' Proposal Is Far-Reaching
The Law Commission’s proposals to recognize data objects as a new category of personal property would bring fundamental changes were they to be implemented, and would have significant ramifications for finance litigation, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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UK Rulings Give Chinese Courts Wide Powers In IP Disputes
The recent rulings in Nokia v. Oppo and Philips v. Oppo open the door for Chinese courts to adjudicate worldwide rate-setting terms for standard-essential patents, and in so doing present a timely wake-up call as to China's influence, say F. Scott Kieff at George Washington University Law School and Thomas Grant at the University of Cambridge.
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Swatch V. Samsung Offers IP Warning To Platform Operators
The recent U.K. High Court decision of Swatch v. Samsung demonstrates that while platform operators may wish to exercise greater control over the apps distributed on their platforms, this carries with it a corresponding duty to apply due diligence to protect the intellectual property rights of third parties, say Alex Borthwick and William Hillson at Powell Gilbert.
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Opinion
The USPTO Should Give Ukraine Even More Help
The U.S. Patent and Trademark office should take three direct steps to help confer upon Ukraine's patent office the same benefits it previously granted to Russia's Rospatent, in addition to the sanctions the USPTO has already conferred in response to the attack on Ukraine, say David Kappos at Cravath, Teresa Summers at Summers Law Group and Andrew Baluch at Smith Baluch.
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International Law May Protect Foreign Investors In Russia
Investment treaties that allow eligible foreign investors to bring claims for compensation by way of international arbitration may offer a better, or the only, avenue to recover losses for assets that have been seized by Russia, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Amazon TM Ruling Proves Important For Global Websites
The U.K. Court of Appeal recently found that Amazon infringed Lifestyle Equities' trademark, and its analysis of whether there was an intention to target particular customers, provides welcome relief for brand owners and lessons on avoiding infringement for the operators of global websites, say Steven James and Hattie Chessher at Brown Rudnick.
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Sheeran Ruling Raises Burden For Copyright Plaintiffs
In requiring proof of access, rather than proof of the possibility of access, the U.K. High Court’s decision in Ed Sheeran’s recent copyright case will provide some security to those in the music industry, say David Fink and Armound Ghoorchian at Venable.