Latest Insights

What do Six Nations Rugby Union referees have in common with the UK IPO Appointed Person? There is huge pressure on referees to make the right decisions in big sports matches, and the Television Match Official (TMO) in Rugby Union has been cited as an example of how technology can help with this process. The… Read more »

Re-design the system – the UK IPO consults on the future of UK design protection First a quick quiz to see whether you should read this article.   Question 1 Can you explain the differences between registered designs, UK unregistered design rights, Community unregistered design rights, supplementary unregistered design right and artistic copyright? A: Yes… Read more »

Absolutely Not Registrable As a Trade Mark Attorney, one of the questions I am asked on an almost daily basis is whether new marks are registrable. As UK IPO practice is forever evolving, it can be helpful to conduct regular reviews of the kinds of marks being refused by the UK IPO. We take a… Read more »

Prosecuting green patents around the world The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) launched the Green Channel in 2009. The Green Channel is a scheme which allows applicants to request accelerated prosecution of patent applications directed to an invention which has an environmental benefit. Since the launch of the green channel in the UK, a… Read more »

European Commission launches feedback period on SEPs As part of the European Commission’s (EC) initiative titled ‘Intellectual property – new framework for standard essential patents’, the EC has now published a call for evidence and a public consultation on standard essential patents (SEPs).  This planned consultation was mentioned in our earlier article reporting the UK… Read more »

Monster trade mark appeal runs out of energy In joined cases T-758/20 and T-759/20, the General Court revoked EU trade mark registrations for the marks MONSTER and MONSTER ENERGY after Monster Energy Co failed to demonstrate that evidence of use of the mark on one product spanned two classes of goods. The cases concerned non-use… Read more »

Appeals to the Appointed Person in the UK – a RARE case of success relating to a missed counterstatement As discussed in previous reports – successful appeals before the Appointed Person in the UK are uncommon.   This successful appeal related to a failure by the proprietor of a registration to file a timely defence to… Read more »

AA Thornton reports on 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination On 3 February 2022, the European Patent Office provided a preview of updates to its Guidelines for Examination, which will come into effect on 1 March 2022. There are various improvements that we really welcome, including some that we recommended, but we also have… Read more »

3D marks – Shaping up for the New Year! The classic Volkswagen (VW) camper van is everywhere these days, its image adorning anything from clothing, tea towels and bedlinen to coffee mugs, fold out chairs and beach windbreaks.  Many a time the VW badge will be replaced with some other circular motif, often a peace… Read more »

Red letter day for Wordle – what next following its sale to The New York Times? News broke this week that viral online word game Wordle has been sold to The New York Times (NYT) for an undisclosed seven figure sum. The popularity of the free daily word puzzle has exploded in just a few… Read more »