News

The partners of AA Thornton are very pleased to announce that Alex Bone, Sarah Darby, Nikesh Patel, Dr Marianne Privett and Nick South have become Partners of the firm as from September 2018. All are extremely experienced attorneys, and valued members of their patent and trade marks teams. Alex is a patent attorney in our… Read more »

Raytheon Company awarded milestone US Patent No.10,000,000 On the 19th June 2018, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO)  issued US. Patent No. 10,000,000.  Since the USPTO was created in 1790, it has effectively taken 228 years for this milestone to have been reached.  Although this patent is not the ten millionth patent… Read more »

Careers in Ideas launch event Associate Patent Attorney Chris Burnett reflects on the launch of Careers In Ideas, and the work ahead to raise awareness of IP with students. “On 10 April 2018, a crowd of over 100 IP professionals, careers experts and students gathered at the Royal Society of Medicine for the launch of… Read more »

The EPO recently announced three fee reducing measures, which came into force on 1 April 2018. The EPO will not be adjusting fees due to inflation for the period 2018-2020 (typically there is a biennial inflation-based adjustment of fees) PCT search and examination fees are reduced by EUR100 The discount on examination fees for applications… Read more »

The UK has now deposited its instrument of ratification of the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPCA) with the European Commission in Brussels, thereby completing the legal necessities for the UK to take part in the Court. The UK became a signatory to the UPCA in February 2013 and, in November 2016, committed to… Read more »

Each year on the 26th April, we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day, to remind ourselves how intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) encourage innovation and creativity. This year’s World Intellectual Property Day campaign celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our… Read more »

In March 2018 the General Court held that the Registered Community Design No 257001-0001 owned by Crocs, Inc was invalid as it was lacking in novelty on the basis of prior disclosures of its design. A proprietor of a Registered Community Design (RCD) right has a 25 year monopoly on its design which gives them… Read more »

We are pleased to learn that the Trademark Clearing House (TMCH) has launched a new Trade Mark Registry Exchange (TREx) service which is designed to help trade mark owners protect their brands on the Internet. Many trade mark owners will already be aware that you can register your trade marks in the TMCH. When a… Read more »

The UK is to leave the EU (“Brexit”) in March 2019, but a transitional (“implementation”) period is expected to apply until at least 31 December 2020, in which existing IP rights obtained under EU law and therefore affected by Brexit will continue to have effect in the UK. When Brexit becomes fully effective, EU unitary… Read more »

The UK government has announced it has joined the Hague Agreement for the international registration of industrial designs. The system will come into effect from 13 June 2018 and will give applicants the option of filing an international design which designates the UK individually (rather than coverage through designation of the EU). What are International… Read more »