Monthly Archives: September 2017

We were delighted to once again participate in the European Patent Office (EPO) Praktika Extern programme. The programme provides an opportunity for EPO examiners to spend several weeks with a host firm and this year we were very pleased to welcome EPO examiner Michele Squeri into our Engineering, Physics & Mechanical devices and Chemistry, Biotechnology… Read more »

In our article of February 2016, we reported on some approved changes to EU trade mark legislation that would affect both EU-wide trade mark rights, and national trade mark rights in EU member states. Some of these changes entered into force immediately, and others required further legislation to be enacted. The last of the changes… Read more »

We are excited to announce that Consulting Patent Attorney and Healthcare and Beauty industry team member Julie Barrett-Major will be speaking at the in-cosmetics formulation summit on 26 October 2017. Julie’s long career history in this field lends itself to her topic of choice: “Patents – an excellent way of finding out about ‘new natural’ materials… Read more »

Trade Mark Attorney and Partner Ian Gill spoke at the 2017 UK China symposium, which took place in London on Thursday 22 September. Co-hosted by the UK Intellectual Property Office and China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), this annual flagship event for UK-China IP co-operation formed part of a week of UK-China IP related activity. Click… Read more »

Note: This is an edited version of a talk given by Ian Gill on “Practical Advice for the Creative Industries” with a particular focus on designs and copyright at the UK-China IP Symposium on 22 September 2017 When considering what to discuss I looked for input on what the creative industries want and I found… Read more »

UK shoppers spend almost £1 in every £5 via the internet, with 59% of online sales made through smartphones or tablets.1 With accessibility and ease to shop online for just about anything, it is not difficult to be drawn to third-party sites offering seemingly unbeatable prices for products and, in particular for designer goods. The… Read more »

US approval for an inhaler monitoring device Patent Attorney and member of our Medical Devices Industry Team, Alex Bone, reflects on a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve an adherence monitoring inhalation device for use in the US. “During previous employment at Novartis I looked at various medical devices for… Read more »

Longstanding client Halliburton announced on 22 August 2017 that they will enter into a strategic new relationship with Microsoft to “drive digital transformation across the oil and gas industry”. The relationship is to combine Microsoft’s global leading expertise in cloud and digital transformation with Halliburton’s global leading expertise in exploration and production (E&P) science, software… Read more »

Introduction Intellectual Property services typically rely on quality of client service to maintain their commercial edge. Nevertheless, the IP sector as a whole could stand to learn much from the best practice approaches adopted by many of the large industrial sectors it services. The International Organisation for Standardisation has begun to apply quality management practices… Read more »

hybrid [pronounced hahy-brid] noun A thing made by combining two different elements. Hybrid cars are becoming more and more prevalent and here at AA Thornton we handle patent applications directed to the wide range of technology involved. This brief article explains exactly what is meant by a “hybrid”, the different types of hybrid vehicle available… Read more »