News

Brexit update Friday 5 April 2019 After yet another rollercoaster week in British politics, further delay to the effective date of Brexit (the “withdrawal date”) is looking increasingly likely. Prime Minister May has written to the EU to request a delay until 30 June 2019, albeit with the proposal that the UK could still leave… Read more »

New Partnership Chair Partner Adrian Bennett was appointed Partnership Chair on 1st April 2019 taking over from partner Ian Gill. Commenting on the appointment of Adrian Bennett to Partnership Chair, Ian Gill said: “The main objective of the Partnership Chair is to provide leadership and support to the management groups to deliver their objectives, and… Read more »

Canada to become 104th member of the international trade mark system On 17 June 2019 Canada will become the 104th member of the International trade mark system. As of this date, it will be possible to designate or subsequently designate Canada as part of your International trade mark. The change coincides with the introduction of… Read more »

Eli Lilly v Genentech – Warner-Lambert Supreme Court Plausibility Test Applied Following the highly anticipated Supreme Court decision in Warner-Lambert v Generics in relation to plausibility at the end of last year, the UK High Court has recently applied the new plausibility test for the first time  in Eli Lilly v Genentech Inc.1 Eli Lilly… Read more »

Brexit update – Article 50 extension request Friday 15 March 2019 We have run out of polite adjectives to describe the continued painful progress of the UK Parliament towards some type of negotiated exit from the EU, but over the past few days the UK Parliament has again rejected the deal proposed by the government,… Read more »

AA Thornton managers and partners discuss unconscious bias As one of the first signatories of the IP Inclusive Charter, it was great to be part of collaborative sessions for AA Thornton partners and managers discussing and raising awareness of our unconscious bias.  Together we took part in some thought provoking discussions, facilitated by Catherine Hamilton… Read more »

AA Thornton’s advice for EPO management EPO President Mr António Campinos invited AA Thornton to provide recommendations for the EPO’s strategic plan for 2019-2023, and our letter is shown below. AA Thornton has actively encouraged the EPO in several of its recent initiatives. The ‘Early Certainty from Search’ scheme and the recent major reorganisation of… Read more »

AA Thornton Partners Ian and Vanessa are mentioned in the 2019 edition of the World Trademark Review We are thrilled to announce that Partner Ian Gill and Consulting Attorney Vanessa Lawrence, have been, once again, recommended in the 2019 edition of the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals, in the “prosecution and strategy” category…. Read more »

Reporting on the second annual ABHI Parlimentary Reception   Attorneys Marianne Privett, Alex Bone and Chris Burnett from our Medical Devices team attended the second annual Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) parliamentary reception at Westminster on Monday night. They were joined by over 200 guests, including Secretary of State for Health and Social Care… Read more »

European Commission proposes changes to Supplementary Protection Certificates Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) are an intellectual property right that serve as an extension to a patent right (for up to five years) specific to pharmaceutical and plant products that must undergo extensive testing and clinical trials before being authorised by marketing authorities in Europe. Earlier in 2018,… Read more »