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News and commentary on IP issues

UK IPO launches new SME financial support scheme, IP Advance

PiggyBank
In welcome news for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the UK Intellectual Property office (IPO) has launched "IP Advance", a new financial support scheme which offers SMEs a helping hand in understanding and commercialising their intellectual property (IP) assets. The scheme has two tiers of funding, and businesses can apply to either one,...
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377 Hits

Romania to become 18th Unitary Patent state

Flag of Romania
Romania has ratified the Unitary Patent Court Agreement and deposited its ratification. It will become the 18th member state of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on 01 September 2024, and Unitary Patents registered on or after this date will also include Romania.  As highlighted in our related article, this does not have retrospective effect...
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763 Hits

Not all Unitary Patents are created equal

18 UP states Romania becomes 18th Unitary Patent state
Different Unitary Patents can have different geographical coverage. The Unitary Patent states are fixed when a Unitary Patent is registered during the grant stage of a European patent. Countries that subsequently become Unitary Patent states are not retrospectively added. This is in stark contrast to European Trade Marks and Designs where...
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889 Hits

European Patent Office Launches New Fee Reduction Scheme to Support Micro-Entities

money
In good news for individuals and smaller businesses with little experience of the European patent system, the European Patent Office will shortly be introducing additional discounts on some of its fees for certain applicants. However, there are strict and complex requirements on eligibility and caution should be used in deciding whether or not...
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European Patent Office Fees increase from 1 April 2024

Fee Increase
The European Patent Office has announced increases to a number of its fees. The increases become effective on any payment made from 1 April 2024 onward. Many, such as the increases to the search, examination and grant fees are modest. However, the renewal fees payable in years 3-5 of a European patent application will increase&n...
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2493 Hits

Validation of European Patents in Georgia

Georgia
On 15 January 2024, the Republic of Georgia will become the 45th country in which patent protection may be obtained via a European patent. The "validation" agreement between Georgia and the European Patent Organisation was signed on 31 October 2019, and will come into force this month. The European Patent Organisation currently has 39 Member States...
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2119 Hits

UK Patentability for Artificial Intelligence

AI
The UK High Court has issued an important ruling in Emotional Perception AI Ltd v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, overruling the UK IPO and deciding that trained artificial neural networks (ANNs) do not fall under the "program for a computer" exclusion of section 1(2)(c) of the Patents Act 1977. The UK I...
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1852 Hits

UK Supreme Court Judgement on DABUS as an inventor

The-Supreme-Court-Westminster-London
Today, 20th December 2023, the UK Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in this case, dismissing Dr Thaler's appeal. On the Issue of Patentability The UK Supreme Court has held that: "…DABUS, a machine with no legal personality, is not and has never been an inventor within the meaning of the 1977 Act. This is more than a formal objection.It go...
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2319 Hits

Right to priority in European Patent Applications - EPO decides there is a rebuttable presumption of validity

PriorityRight
The Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office (EPO) has now issued its written decision in consolidated cases G1/22 and G2/22. The Enlarged Board of Appeal concludes that the EPO is competent to assess priority entitlement and that there is a rebuttable presumption that an applicant claiming priority in accordance with the formal requi...
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1540 Hits

Goodbye to the "Ten Day Rule" at the EPO

TenDays
The EPO's idiosyncratic "ten day rule" relevant to calculating notified deadlines is being abolished in November. Many a European patent attorney has been thankful for the EPO's ten day rule after receipt of very late instructions to proceed with filing a response. This peculiarity of EPO practice has its origin in the days of postal ...
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1464 Hits

Plausibility at the EPO - Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G2/21

HummingbirdHawkMoth
The long-awaited Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G2/21 has finally been issued. It confirms that evidence submitted in support of inventive step cannot be disregarded solely on the ground that such evidence had not been public before the filing date and was only filed after that date. The background to this Decision and the referral to the E...
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1885 Hits

Practical Tips for Patenting Antibodies in Europe

Antibody
The patenting of proteins is well established in Europe as long as they meet the requirements of novelty and inventive step.Antibodies are a specific type of protein, and to obtain useful patent protection for these, there are specific requirements to take into consideration.We have previously written about the European Patent Office's Guidelines f...
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2347 Hits

Developing Drugs for Developing World Diseases: The Role of Patents

Mosquito
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the issue of patents for medicines (in particular vaccines in the case of Covid) to the fore.From the debate surrounding enhancing distribution of Covid vaccines in the developing world by implementing a patent waiver, it is clear that the oft-heard argument that intellectual property to protect such vital products...
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2250 Hits

The Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent are coming

UPC
The long-awaited Unified Patent Court opens its doors on 1 June 2023 now that Germany has ratified the UPC Agreement. Alongside this, patents granted at the European Patent Office will be able to be registered for a single Unitary right covering certain EU member states (in addition to other states being individually registered separately in the co...
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1997 Hits

DABUS at the UK's Supreme Court - inventorship of AI created inventions to be decided

Supreme Court of United Kingdom
On 2 March 2023, Robert Jehan and Dr Ryan Abbott will appear before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to argue that the Patents Act 1977 can permit the granting of patents for the DABUS patent applications. The appellant, Dr Thaler, created an Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine known as DABUS that in turn, in the absence of a traditional hu...
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3138 Hits

EPO Board of Appeal Decision J0008/20 on AI Inventor DABUS - Commentary by Robert Jehan

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On 6 July 2022 the European Patent Office's Legal Board of Appeal published its reasoned decision J0008/20 explaining why it refused Dr Thaler's appeal at the end of the oral proceedings held on 21 December 2021. The decision establishes very important principles in law in relation to the patentability of inventions created by AI systems, that...
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4177 Hits

Williams Powell wins MIP award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team

Managing-IP-Award
We are delighted to announce that Williams Powell was presented with the special award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team of the Year for the Stephen Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (DABUS) case at the prestigious Managing IP Awards on 15 June 2022. Williams Powell was recognised for the work of Robert ...
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2576 Hits

Sequence Listings Looking Towards the "Big Bang"

BigBang
The beginning of July sees a shake up in how sequence listings are to be presented in patent applications around the world. After almost 25 years, WIPO has updated its standard from ST.25 to ST.26, and relevant patent applications at the International Bureau and in all WIPO contracting states (including both the EPO and the UK IPO) will need to inc...
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UK Patent Attorneys able to represent clients before the European Unified Patent Court

Representation
It has been confirmed that European patent attorneys having a relevant UK qualification will be able to represent clients directly before the Unified Patent Court. All of Williams Powell's patent attorneys have the relevant qualifications and will therefore be entered on the list of representatives. As previously reported, the new UPC system i...
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2349 Hits

European Unitary Patent in 2022?

Europe
As the European Patent Office announces transitional provisions ready for entry into force of the UPC Agreement, it is starting to look like we may have the first European Unitary Patent within the next year or so. While there will of course be competition to see who manages to get the first Unitary Patent, there are also serious strategi...
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2971 Hits