Monthly Archives: July 2017

Team 2017. Back: Anna Sheridan, Adrian Bennett, Chris Burnett, Geoff Hussey, Stuart Greenwood, Alex Bone Middle:Hannah Bettles, Varuni Paranavitane, Emma Lau Front: Vanessa King On Monday 24 July, A. A. Thornton & Co. took part in the Standard Chartered Great City Race, raising money for the charity “Seeing is believing”, a global initiative to help… Read more »

During a chat with my Automotive group colleagues about developments in automotive technology I confessed that although I’d owned my “new” car for over a year, I hadn’t yet dared to try the parking assist function. Something about a car parking itself made me feel slightly uneasy. My colleagues pointed out that this was perhaps… Read more »

Litigation partner Geoff Hussey and Electrical Patents partner Mike Jennings, members of A.A. Thornton’s UP/UPC working group, attended the EPO’s annual conference in Munich on 5 July 2017, discussing the preparation of the European patent with unitary effect (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). EPO President Benoît Battistelli mentioned the new Quality Working Group… Read more »

A key change has recently been implemented under European Patent Law in order to exclude from patentability, plants and animals “exclusively” obtained by essentially biological processes. Under the European Patent Convention plants and animals are patentable as long as they are not confined to a particular plant or animal variety. However, newly implemented rules (Rules… Read more »

In a Judgment handed down today, the Supreme Court has reformulated the test for patent infringement in the UK, particularly insofar as it relates to infringement by equivalents. The Patent and the declaration sought by Actavis Eli Lilly owns a patent that claims the use of “pemetrexed disodium” in the manufacture of a medicament for… Read more »

A key change has recently been implemented under European Patent Law in order to exclude from patentability, plants and animals “exclusively” obtained by essentially biological processes. Under the European Patent Convention plants and animals are patentable as long as they are not confined to a particular plant or animal variety. However, newly implemented rules (Rules… Read more »

Our associate Chris Burnett reports on a talk he gave to sixth formers at Hylands School in Chelmsford, Essex about careers in IP: “The last time I stepped into a secondary school was when I was a pupil nearly 20 years ago. I instantly stepped back in time walking through the main door, and familiar… Read more »

The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill received Royal assent on 27 April 2017 and the Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017 will come into force in October 2017. A discussion of the Bill was reported here. The Bill has been accepted without amendment. This new law harmonises the UK law relating to unjustified threats relating… Read more »

Did you know that in Saudi Arabia it is compulsory to record a trade mark licence at the local Trade Marks Office? Previous advice had been that it was best practice to record a licence in Saudi Arabia, but it is now clear that it is obligatory to record a licence in Saudi Arabia. A… Read more »