Electronics & Electrical Engineering

I reported on the post-Brexit consultation launched by the UK government into the design system here, and the government’s response was recently published here. This article looks at the main conclusions offered in the government response.  If you were envisaging that the response would set out a clear plan for the reform of the system… Read more »

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” The words of Aldous Huxley depict the unique ability of music to convey emotion and summon an instinctual sentimental response within us all. Although many believe this to be an ineffable reaction which defies scientific explanation, a growing body of research appears to… Read more »

Litigation by STEALTH not permitted by Court of Appeal Introduction It is not uncommon for trade mark owners to purchase old, and unused, trade mark registrations as part of their commercial IP strategy, but what happens when a party acquires a right during the course of litigation and deliberately conceals the fact it has done… Read more »

Freedom to Operate – Understanding the risks   There are many factors to be considered for a project developing a new product or process, but Freedom to Operate should not be overlooked. What is Freedom to Operate? Freedom to Operate, or “FTO”, is the ability to carry out commercial plans without infringing third party Intellectual… Read more »

EPO 2022 fee increases The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced a rise in many of its official fees to take effect from 1st April 2022. The announcement, published with full details of the new fees in the EPO Official Journal in January 2022, follows the Decision of the Administrative Council of 15th December 2021… 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 »

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 »

9. Clarification of section on patentability of antibodies This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination.   We are pleased that the comments on patentability of antibodies in Guidelines Part G, Chapter II, section 5.6 has been clarified and updated. AA Thornton’s Craig Turner discussed this with… Read more »

8. Data retrieval, formats and structures This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination.   This section G-II, section 3.6.3 includes a minor clarification (underlined below): “A data structure or format contributes to the technical character of the invention if it produces has an intended technical use… Read more »

7. Update relating to games This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination.   In a section discussing patentability of games, section G-II, 3.5.2 of the previous Guidelines and the new version tells us that: “…An example of a technical context in which the manner of presenting… Read more »