28th Mar 2013
Patent, utility model and design protection are available in China. However unlike in other jurisdictions that offer utility model protection such as Germany and Japan, in China the number of utility model applications filed annually exceeds the number of patent applications. For example, the number of utility model applications filed in China in 2011 was […]
25th Mar 2013
Scams relating to patents and trade marks are a perennial problem, but we have seen a spate of them recently. If you are in any doubt about letters you receive asking for payment of registration or renewal fees, please contact us. If you send us a copy of the letter, then we will very quickly […]
21st Mar 2013
It’s only a few days since the Patent Box came into force (1 April 2013) and I am still wondering whether, and how, this new tax regime will affect the generally conservative attitude of UK business towards protecting its intellectual property. Statistics consistently appear to show that UK applicants file considerably fewer patent applications per […]
19th Mar 2013
Last week, in Schutz v Werit, the UK Supreme Court decided that placing a new, third party, “bottle” in the frame of a patented Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) was not “making” the patented IBC and hence was not patent infringement. That the case should have reached the highest courts in the UK and Germany highlights […]
15th Mar 2013
The Vexatious Dilemma Did you know that it is against the law in the UK to say a product is patented when no patent protection exists? Also, you can find yourself in hot water if you continue to represent a product as patented once the patent protection has ended. On the other hand, if a […]
11th Mar 2013
The number of patent filings at the EPO reached a new record in 2012 at 257,744, which amounts to a 5.2% increase on 2011. Granted EP patents also saw a 5.8% increase compared to 2011. Europe continued to demonstrate its position as a region of technological innovation; EPO member states accounted for 36.5% of the […]
7th Mar 2013
On 15 January 2013, the European Patent Office revoked Amazon’s patent directed to ‘A Method and System For Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communications Network’, aka the “one-click patent”. This latest decision follows post-grant opposition proceedings which resulted in a preliminary decision to revoke the patent in 2008. Amazon subsequently appealed to the Board […]
4th Mar 2013
The Japanese Patent Office (JPO) can now be chosen as the search and examination authority for international patent applications originating in a number of countries in south east Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as Singapore and South Korea. More information is provided on the JPO website. Background Japanese manufacturers, especially those […]