29th Nov 2013
Earlier this year in Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd v Zodiac Seats UK Ltd [2013] UKSC 46, the Supreme Court invited the lower courts to reconsider the guidance given in Glaxo Group v Genentech [2008] EWCA Civ 23 concerning the circumstances in which it is appropriate for a UK court considering combined patent infringement and revocation […]
25th Nov 2013
The UKIPO has changed the way it calculates the expiry date of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) that are based on a European marketing authorisation. This change may, in some cases, lead to a modest increase in the SPC term, which could be highly significant for both innovative and generic pharmaceutical companies. Background A supplementary protection […]
18th Nov 2013
MacGyver was the central character of the hit ’80s TV show of the same name (a show that boasts one of the best theme tunes of all time – click here to view); he was a spy/secret agent/veteran/bomb disposal expert and all round good egg. The salient point to know about MacGyver is that he […]
11th Nov 2013
How will the proposed changes to the CTM Regulation affect the practicalities of registering marks in the EU? The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (better known as “OHIM”) opened its doors in 1995 and has since registered over a million Community Trade Marks (CTMs). The European Commission has now decided that it is […]
8th Nov 2013
The European Patent Office (EPO) “Guidelines for Examination” is the internal manual setting out EPO procedures in all stages of the patent application process, from the formalities examination carried out on filing, through search, examination, patentability and post grant procedures such as opposition and limitation. The Guidelines are published by the EPO and are an […]
4th Nov 2013
Hot on the heels of its removal of the restrictions for filing divisionals, the EPO recently announced a change in the way applications originating from a PCT (international) application will be treated if found to lack unity of invention. This change is excellent news for applicants because it brings to an end a particularly unfair […]
1st Nov 2013
The patent prosecution highway (PPH) was launched in 2008 as a set of cooperation agreements between participating patent offices in various countries of the world. The aim of PPH is to accelerate the patent prosecution process by sharing work product between patent offices that have a PPH agreement between them with the two-fold benefit of […]