News

Artificial Intelligence – Our March 2020 report According to the European Patent Office, for the first time in more than a decade, digital technologies have taken the lead in patent applications filed. Among the top technical fields digital communication (+19.6%) and computer technology (+10.2%) saw the steepest growth. The report, published on the 12th March… Read more »

Business update in response to COVID-19 Update: 24.03.20 COVID-19 Update – Please Use Electronic Mail In light of the lockdown within the U.K. due to COVID-19, we ask that you do not send paper mail to our offices for the time being. Effective today, please use electronic mail so we may ensure the timely processing… Read more »

EPO announce fee increases, effective from 1 April 2020 The EPO recently announced their fees are to increase on the 1 April 2020.  This is in line with their typical practice of increasing fees every two years. The average increase will be 4% for most fees including for the appeal fee for specific entities*, however… Read more »

Partners Ian and Vanessa are ranked in the 2020 edition of the World Trademark Review We are delighted to announce that Senior Partner Ian Gill and Consulting Attorney Vanessa Lawrence, have been, once again, recommended in the 2020 edition of the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals, in the “prosecution and… Read more »

Skykick CJEU judgement brief summary   The CJEU has today answered the questions referred by the High Court of Justice England and Wales in the Sky v Skykick case (C-371/18), which were: 1. Can an EU trade mark or a national trade mark registered in a Member State be declared wholly or partially invalid on… Read more »

The dawn of a new era – Brexit becomes a reality   After completion of all necessary legislative stages in the UK, the EU Withdrawal Agreement has now been signed on behalf of the EU and by the UK Prime Minister.  All that remains is for the Agreement to be formally ratified by the European… Read more »

AA Thornton welcomes Formalities Officer from the EPOs placement programme ‘Praktika Extern’ We were delighted to welcome Kamila Miklos, a Formalities Officer from the European Patent Office (EPO) Hague office to our office this week as part of our ongoing support of the EPOs placement programme ‘Praktika Extern’. In previous years we have hosted EPO… Read more »

Partner Ian Gill reflects on spending 25 years at AA Thornton and his career in Intellectual Property.    If you can’t view the embedded article above, we have provided an accessible version below: A quick search on Google reveals that Gary Larson announced he was no longer doing the “Far Side” cartoons on 3 October… Read more »

AA Thornton is ranked as a top tier firm The Legal 500 2020 edition has now been published and we are absolutely delighted to be recommended as a top-tier firm for our trade marks practice, which was described as “strong”, “dedicated” and an “excellent team of knowledgeable and genuinely good people”. We also remain highly recommended for our patents… Read more »

AA Thornton appoint two new Partners in their Litigation Department The Partners of AA Thornton are delighted to announce the appointment of Simon Spink and Dan Byrne, who recently joined the firm as Partners in the Litigation department. Commenting on the appointment, Geoff Hussey, Partner said: “I am absolutely delighted that such highly skilled and experienced… Read more »