Medical Devices

Patent protection of medical devices – time for a rethink? This article was first published by Bio Science Today in March 2019 Introduction The duration of patent protection for medical devices is up to twenty years, as for any other type of device. Pharmaceuticals, on the other hand, may be entitled to an extended duration… Read more »

Reporting on the Wearable Technology Show AA Thornton recently attended the Wearable Technology Show 2019 in London to explore the direction in which innovation is being driven in the wearables market. The event hosted an array of innovative start-ups, many of which were exhibiting ingenious technology derived from truly pioneering ideas. The technology on show… Read more »

The Importance of Intellectual Property Associate Attorney, Christopher Burnett, recently wrote an article ‘The Importance of Intellectual Property’ for East Anglia in Business Magazine, and the full magazine can be read  here.. Chris’s article identifies different IP rights, what they protect and how they are obtained in order to then commercialise them. Below is Chris’s… Read more »

Reporting on the second annual ABHI Parlimentary Reception Attorneys Marianne Privett, Alex Bone and Chris Burnett from our Medical Devices team attended the second annual Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) parliamentary reception at Westminster on Monday night. They were joined by over 200 guests, including Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt… Read more »

Patenting aerospace medicines – the final frontier? Consulting Attorney, Julie Barrett-Major recently wrote for BioScience Today on the subject of Patenting aerospace medicines. You can find Julie’s article below, or read the full magazine here.  Should you wish to discuss this topic, please contact the author, Julie Barrett-Major, or your usual AA Thornton contact.

Commenting on the EPO’s AI discussions Partner Mike Jennings attended the EPO’s AI conference on 30 May, commenting:  “The EPO deserves praise for investing in an excellent discussion with industry and members of the judiciary about the future for AI patenting. The 30 May 2018 conference was part of that discussion. The consultation provided a good… Read more »

The Internet of Things: The saviour of healthcare, or disaster waiting to happen? Business Insider defines the Internet of Things (“IoT”) as ‘a network of internet-connected objects able to collect and exchange data using embedded sensors’. Healthcare is a key area in which the IoT is set to revolutionise the way we live. The so-called Internet… Read more »

Protection for cannabis-based IP in the wake of announcement of impending legalisation of medicinal cannabis The legalisation of medicinal and recreational cannabis in several US states, Canada and some European countries has resulted in a new economic market rising from what was previously an illegal trade. Meanwhile, in the UK, the recent cases of Billy… Read more »

EU: Falsified Medicines Directive: Implications for parallel importers and of Brexit This article was updated: 8 October 2018 Introduction to the Falsified Medicines Directive Directive 2011/62/EU, better known as “The Falsified Medicines Directive” or “FMD”, came into force on 2 January 2013, with the aim of preventing falsified medicines from entering the legitimate supply chain… Read more »

Assessment of “plausibility” requirement from the EPO perspective Introduction This article considers how the EPO views the requirement of “plausibility”, which can arise during both the assessment of “sufficient disclosure” of the invention and “inventive step” in proceedings before the EPO, particularly in relation to inventions in the Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences field. The EPO… Read more »