Latest insights, firm news and podcasts The IPEC leaves its cap onThe caps that are in place for the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), formerly known as the Patents County Court (PCC), provide claimants and defendants alike with certainty with regard to damages/account of profits and orders in relation to costs. This case (Abbott and another v Design & Display Ltd and another [2014] EWHC 3234 (IPEC)) focussed on how the cap relating to awards of damages/account of profits should be applied in actions involving more than one defendant.Read More 20Nov2014 UK court decides milk bottle patent case without trialUK courts have the power to dispose of all or part of a case without a trial if there is no real prospect of success. In a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal, the defendant in the patent case of Nampak Plastics Europe Limited and Alpha UK Limited has successfully made use of these powers, receiving a favourable declaration of non-infringement from the High Court without the need for a trial.Read More 06Nov2014 Second medical use claims for devices – an uneven playing field?European patent law offers extra protection for pharmaceuticals that is not available for medical devices. Second medical use claims for pharmaceuticals are routinely accepted in Europe, whereas the same style of claim is generally not permissible for medical devices. Recent case law has seen a shift towards rewarding new uses for existing medical devices, but achieving such protection requires care during prosecution.Read More 30Oct2014 IP Act 2014 – Changes to UK designs law come into forceIn an earlier briefing note, we summarised the main changes to UK law introduced by the Intellectual Property Act 2014. A number of these changes come into effect today (1st October 2014), including measures intended to modernise, simplify and strengthen the law relating to designs – an area of protection often overlooked by IP owners. This short article reviews some of the more significant changes to designs law brought about by provisions in the Act.Read More 01Oct2014 Extended protection for medical devices – a hot topic in the UKManufactures of medical devices are requesting an increasing number of patent term extensions in a bid to recover the cost of getting regulatory approval. Recent decisions show that the UK IPO is taking a strict approach when examining patent term extensions for medical devices, but there are still situations where extra protection might be available.Read More 21Aug2014 Patentable parthenotes? Advocate General says yesIn the latest development to the patentability of human stem cells, the AG has recommended that stem cells derived from parthenogenically activated oocytes should not be excluded from patentability any longer. The AG drew the distinction between totipotent and pluripotent cells, noting that cells that do not have the capacity to develop into a human being should not be excluded from patentability.Read More 31Jul2014 UK High Court makes sense of CJEU’s decision on interpretation of Article 3(a)In a pro-patentee judgment, the UK High Court suggests that SPCs can be based on most types of claim provided that the product which is the subject of the SPC falls within the scope of the claim.Read More 29Jul2014 Intellectual property rights and 3D printing: a threat or an opportunity?The latest developments in 3D printing and the implications for IP protection.Read More 28Jul2014 Should High stay, for EPO? Actavis and Pharmacia clash in the High CourtMr Justice Arnold in the Patents Court of the High Court of England and Wales (the ‘Patents Court’) initially refused a request by the patentee, Pharmacia, for a stay of UK revocation proceedings brought by Actavis, pending the outcome of opposition proceedings at the EPO based on three undertakings.Read More 24Jul2014 Changes to searches on applications entering Europe via the PCTAs of 1st November 2014, the EPO is changing the way it searches PCT applications entering the European regional phase which are considered to relate to more than one invention. These changes will result in increased flexibility for the applicant and should help to reduce the likelihood of encountering unexpected costs.Read More 14Jul2014<1…67686970717273…75> Type Firm News Insights PodcastsServiceProtectDealDisputeUPCSectorHealthcare+Energy+Life SciencesChemistryMaterialsEngineeringTechCreativeArchive2026AugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2025DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2024DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2023DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2022DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2021DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2020DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2019DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2018DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2017DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2016DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2015DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2014DecemberNovemberOctoberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchFebruaryJanuary2013DecemberNovemberOctoberSeptemberAugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarchJanuary2012NovemberJulyJuneMayAprilFebruaryJanuary
