News

  The Partners are delighted to announce the promotion of Sarah Neil to the role of Senior Associate Trade Mark Attorney, effective 1 July 2020. Having joined the firm as a Trainee Trade Mark Attorney in 2012 Sarah has qualified as Chartered Trade Mark Attorney in our Legal 500 ranked Top Tier Trade Mark team,… Read more »

Financial Times names AA Thornton one of Europe’s leading Patent Law Firm’s 2020 We are delighted to have been named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms for 2020. We would like to thank our clients and peers who gave feedback in relation to our inclusion in this list. If you… Read more »

Third judgment in Sky v SkyKick – Louise Foster and Sarah Darby provide some take-away thoughts Following the answers from the CJEU in its judgment of 29 January 2020 (C-371/18) to the five questions referred to it by the UK court concerning the Sky v SkyKick Case, there is now a third judgment in this… Category: News | Published: May 2020 | Read more

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 »

Updates in response to COVID-19 Legal update: 08.04.20 Legal Update available – UK IPO coronavirus response In recognition of the challenges individuals and businesses are facing amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has made certain temporary adjustments to its practices, to ensure that parties are not adversely affected in their dealings… 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 »