Knowledge Hub

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 »

Patent attorney Stuart Greenwood reflects on his flexible working experience at AA Thornton Inspired by the recent Flexible Working talk held by IP Inclusive, Stuart Greenwood, a UK and European patent attorney here at AA Thornton, writes about his experiences as a part-time patent attorney and full-time dad, and the support he has received from… 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 from… Read more »

UK Statutory Legislation on Brexit and EU Trade Marks It remains unlikely that the UK will leave the EU on 29 March without a deal, but the UK Government continues to prepare the UK’s statute book for exit from the EU, including in the area of intellectual property, with several IP focussed Statutory Instruments being… Read more »

Discussing EPO developments and patentability of computer-implemented inventions in the era of AI In April 2019, the Charted Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) will lead a series of intellectual property roadshows in the USA, with participation from the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA), the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and Sir Colin Birss,… 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 »

Google get lucky – Google win a patent dispute over their “I’m feeling lucky” button Google have been involved in a dispute with Israeli company Spring Ventures (previously Buy2 Networks) regarding their “I’m feeling lucky” button which, once clicked, takes the user straight to Google’s top-ranked search link. Spring Ventures asserted that the button infringed… 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 »