29th Apr 2013
On 16th April 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissed Spain and Italy’s challenge to the proposed unitary patent system, bringing the unitary patent a step closer to reality. In May 2011, Spain and Italy contested a decision by the Council of the European Union authorising the use of the enhanced […]
12th Apr 2013
If you have a dispute in relation to your intellectual property, litigation is not the only option when it comes to resolving the dispute. A potentially useful and often overlooked alternative, particularly for SMEs, is mediation. On 21 March 2013, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) launched a modernised mediation service to help businesses resolve their […]
8th Apr 2013
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) typically takes three to four years to grant UK patents. This works for applicants who are happy to stake their claim to an invention but defer examination costs while they develop the technology. For applicants who want their applications to progress more quickly, the UK IPO has a […]
5th Apr 2013
The Community Trade Mark (CTM) System was set up under the principle that if a trade mark was being used somewhere in the Community, even if only in one member state, this would be sufficient to maintain Community-wide rights. A recent Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision, however (Case C-149/11 Leno Merken […]
1st Apr 2013
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has launched a consultation on whether it would be appropriate to introduce an “Appointed Person” appeal route. An appeal to the Appointed Person would be instead of an appeal via a UK court for patent decisions made by the UK IPO. This route is already available for appeals […]