Knowledge Hub

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 »

Patent Attorneys Geoff Hussey, Craig Turner, Alex Bone and Leonita Paulraj are attending CPhI’s 7th Annual Pharma IPR Conference in Mumbai, India from 7th-9th March. Craig and Geoff will also be speaking about the implications of Brexit on Indian pharma companies on the 8th March. CPhI’s 7th Annual Pharma IPR Conference is a leading platform… Read more »

From Corporate to Classroom  – the AAT outreach programme In 2015 Vince Bixby, Senior Business Systems Support at A.A. Thornton & Co, after striking up conversation with a friend who worked in the Art Department at Southend High School for Boys, realised that A.A. Thornton could give back to the community. The art department, which included digital… Read more »

On 08 February 2018, Her Majesty the Queen and her Privy Councillors signed off the Unified Patent Court (Immunities and Privileges) Order. This means that the UK is now in a position to ratify the Unitary Patent Court Agreement (UPCA. However, UK constitutional practice first requires the UK Intellectual Property Office to provide to the… Read more »

President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, recently reiterated in a meeting with delegates from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) that “Brexit will have no impact on UK membership of the EPO” Battistelli went on to confirm that because the EPO is an independent international organisation (of which the UK is… Read more »

Trade Mark Partner Rachel Havard and Consulting Patent Attorney Julie Barrett Major will represent the firm at the Spring Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group conference in Porto, Portugal from 18th – 20th March. PTMG is a not for profit organisation and their primary objective is to enable members to meet at regular intervals to consider problems… Read more »

Consulting Patent Attorney Julie Barrett-Major and Trainee Patent Attorney Lucy O’Brien will attend the 12th World Congress on Pharmaceutical Sciences and Innovations in Pharma Industry on 26th and 27th of February 2018 in London. ‘The conference is a specially organized two day event which will provide a multi-channel communication platform that brings together both “producers”… Read more »

We are thrilled to announce that Partners and Chartered Trademark Attorneys Ian Gill and Vanessa Lawrence, have been, once again, recommended in the 2018 edition of the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals, in the “prosecution and strategy” category. They also received the following client comments: “Trademark and design pro Ian Gill has technical and… Read more »

The EPO have recently extended their fast-track pilot programme agreement (the Patent Prosecution Highway, or PPH) with Canada, Israel, Mexico and Singapore. All four pilot programmes will now run until 5 January 2021. As with all pilot PPH programmes, the EPO reserve the right to end the programme early if, for example, participation levels “exceed… Read more »