News

The UKIPO have announced that the option of webmarking products to indicate registered design rights will launch on 1 October 2017. This will bring UK registered designs into line with UK patents, where webmarking of patented products has (read previous article here) been an option since October 2014. Present situation in webmarking As reported in an… Read more »

We are pleased to report that Thailand has become the 99th country to sign up to the International trade mark system and as of 7 November 2017 it will be possible to designate or subsequently designate Thailand under International trade marks. In 2015, the Thai trade marks office received over 38,000 applications for new trade… Read more »

For the first time, English Courts have granted relief in the form of a negative declaration known as an “Arrow” declaration which allows the claimant who sought the declaration to launch their product on the market with confidence that the patentee will not threaten the claimant for patent infringement in the UK. Following a judgment… Read more »

In a Judgment handed down today, the Supreme Court has reformulated the test for patent infringement in the UK, particularly insofar as it relates to infringement by equivalents. The Patent and the declaration sought by Actavis Eli Lilly owns a patent that claims the use of “pemetrexed disodium” in the manufacture of a medicament for… Read more »

A key change has recently been implemented under European Patent Law in order to exclude from patentability, plants and animals “exclusively” obtained by essentially biological processes. Under the European Patent Convention plants and animals are patentable as long as they are not confined to a particular plant or animal variety. However, newly implemented rules (Rules… Read more »

Our associate Chris Burnett reports on a talk he gave to sixth formers at Hylands School in Chelmsford, Essex about careers in IP: “The last time I stepped into a secondary school was when I was a pupil nearly 20 years ago. I instantly stepped back in time walking through the main door, and familiar… Read more »

In response to an opposition by chemicals company BASF, Craig Turner, a partner in our Chemistry, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical patents team, successfully defended Lycored’s European patent which protects their unique lycopene formulation, used for providing stable red colouring for foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Longstanding client Lycored are a market-leader in the development and supply of research-based,… Read more »

A.A.Thornton & Co patent attorneys Mike Jennings and Nikesh Patel attended the Pat-Tech Exchange event on the 6th – 7th June in Dublin. The event provided a great opportunity for knowledge sharing, taking account of the different perspectives of large multinationals and SMEs. Mike moderated a discussion of substantive patent law harmonisation and preparations for… Read more »

This year, A.A. Thornton & Co. sent a large team to represent the firm at the INTA 139th Annual Meeting, at Barcelona in Spain from 20-24 May 2017. Partners Ian Gill, Vanessa Lawrence, Rachel Havard, Geoff Hussey and Emily Cottrill attended the conference, as well as Registered Trade Mark Attorneys Louise Foster, Nidhi Mukhuty, Suzanne Power, Sarah… Read more »

Automotive patent attorneys Stuart Greenwood and Nikesh Patel attended the Confused.com London Motor Show at Battersea Park on Friday 5 May 2017. They spent the day viewing over 150 vehicles, meeting motoring legends, and catching up on the latest tech innovations. Highlights included learning about cars being designed using virtual reality and speaking to the ‘Stop the crash’ representatives… Read more »