Patent

1. Amendments to avoid contradictions between claims and description This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination. There are some small but important changes to the guidelines on required changes to the description of a European patent application (Guidelines Part F, Chapter IV, section 4.3). Many EPO… Read more »

Trademarking in the Metaverse and Non-Fungible Tokens – virtually pointless? Should you be extending your trade mark protection to the Metaverse?  What role do Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) play within the Metaverse and your trade mark protection strategy?   What is the Metaverse? It is probably easiest to understand as a massively scaled up version of… Read more »

Recent progress towards Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court Europe’s long-awaited Unified Patent Court and the European Union’s Unitary Patent could (and even should) both be available before the end of 2022. Even if there is a short delay, the UPC is almost certain to be open for business in late 2022 or early 2023…. Read more »

IPO’s consultation on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and Innovation The UK government is seeking views from industry and others both domestically and globally as to whether the ecosystem surrounding Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) is functioning efficiently and effectively and striking the right balance for all entities involved. The purpose of the consultation is to help… Read more »

Protecting Digital Medtech Innovation This article was first published in BioScience Today.   For many years the medical technology (medtech) sector has been at the forefront of innovation and the Covid-19 pandemic has not slowed it down, with new technology quickly being developed to test for, prevent and treat the virus. Protecting medtech innovations can… Read more »

Mike Jennings and Michael Piper CLE paper for AIPLA’s annual meeting – see here: A practial update on patenting computer implemented inventions with a preview for 2022

The Nagoya Protocol and the UK – are you compliant? The Nagoya Protocol has been in force in the UK since October 2015 and obliges users of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources to comply with due diligence requirements before its ‘utilisation’. There is also an obligation to make a due diligence… Read more »

Deadline approaching for the Government R&D Tax Credits Consultation – your input needed for potential changes to RDEC and SME R&D Relief Government R&D Tax Credits Consultation: The UK government intends to raise investment in research and development to 2.4% of UK GDP by 2027 and wants to ensure that one of the key incentives for… Read more »

AA Thornton’s Pharma & Biotech experts contribute to the European Patent Office’s peer consultation on the EPOs Guidelines for Examination; Part G chapter II,  section 5.6 concerning Antibodies. On 1st March 2021 the EPO published new guidelines for the examination of claims to antibodies which has raised some some specific concerns regarding the proposed wording… Read more »

Lloyd Palmer provides a short update on the EPO’s decision to continue oral proceedings by videoconference in examination and opposition during pendency of referral G1/21 You can read the EPO news item on G1/21 here. Making predictions within the global uncertainty of the past few years has been a risky business. From unpredictable US elections… Read more »