Case Reports

Over a decade ago, in 2013, when I was writing for the IPKat, I wrote a post opining that the UPC Agreement should produce a harmonisation of the substantive law of patent infringement across...

The first batch of unitary patents was registered this week. According to the European Patent Register, 609 requests for unitary effect have been allowed and published on Monday 12 June 2023.

Today is Unitary Patent day!In principle, a Unitary Patent could be obtained for a European Patent granted from 1 June 2023. But in practice, the European Patent Office only publishes grant of...

After more than 50 years in the making, the Unified Patent Court finally launches today – 1 June 2023. This represents the most significant development in European patent law and practice since the...

Owners of EP applications and patents will have almost certainly have had requests by now asking whether they wish to opt their patents/applications out of the jurisdiction of the UPC.

Key points: OPT-OUT / OPT-IN / Art. 83 UPCA / TRANSITIONAL REGIMEImmediately prior to the launch of the UPC, there is heated debate among patent owners as to whether or not to declare an "opt-out"...

On 21 and 22 March a panel from EIP Latest hosted an informative webinar where they discussed everything your business needs to know about the effect of the incoming Unitary Patent and Unified Patent...

The grant of a European Patent allows patent rights to be obtained in respect of over 35 states by means of the respective validation procedures for those states.

Following news of Germany's depositing its instrument of ratification of the UPC agreement on 17 February, mark your calendars for 1 June when the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will begin operations in...

The Registry of the Unified Patent Court maintains a number of Registers which are publicly accessible via their website at www.unified-patent-court.org.

Member States of the EU that have already ratified the UPC Agreement (or in the case of Germany has indicated it will do so) and so will take part in the UPC as soon as it commences are:Austria,...

The Unitary Patent will be a single patent right, obtained via the European Patent Office, covering all EU Member States which have ratified the agreement at the patent grant date.

The project to establish a Unitary Patent in Europe and a Unified Patent Court to handle patent infringement litigation for European patents is underway again.

In the UK, applications to declare a UK registered design invalid can be filed at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), whereupon the case is decided by a Hearing Officer of the UKIPO acting...

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has recently published a consultation document on the proposed reform of the UK Designs Legal Framework.

A Patents County Court judgment by HHJ Birss QC in Gimex v Chill Bag provides guidance on whether the indication of the product in a registered design has any bearing when assessing validity and...

Interflora Inc & Anor v Marks and Spencer Plc & Anor [2012] EWHC 1722 (Ch)In a wider action concerning the alleged infringement of two of Interflora’s trademarks through Marks & Spencer’s use of...

On 4 July in Phillips v Mulcaire [2012] UKSC 28 the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom gave judgment on two key issues regarding the privilege against self-incrimination.

The Court of Appeal recently allowed an appeal by Budejovicky Budvar Narodni Podnik (BB), against a decision that found its “Budweiser” mark invalid following an attack by Anheuser-Busch (AB) which...

(HTC Europe Co Ltd v Apple Inc [2012] EWHC 1789).A further decision in the so-called “smartphone wars” was issued by the High Court recently in relation to a patent dispute between HTC Europe Co Ltd...

In addition to an earlier summary by Darren Smyth of the ruling in Generics (t/a Mylan) v Yeda and Teva, Darren has provided further analysis for the IPKat.

Today’s ruling by Mr Justice Arnold (Patents Court, England and Wales) in Generics (t/a Mylan) v Yeda and Teva has been summarised by Darren Smyth for the IPKat.

Samsung has won a longstanding battle with Apple concerning one of Apple's Registered Community Designs for its tablet computers.The decision is significant because it represents the first...

Generics (UK) Ltd v Yeda Research & Development Co Ltd & Teva Pharmaceutical Industries[2012] EWCA Civ 726The Court of Appeal has overturned an injunction that prevented an in-house patent attorney...

Partner Darren Smyth's role as one of the IPKat's guest bloggers has come to a conclusion after six months.He will continue to post intermittently to the IPKat and more regularly to his Blog on EIP...

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is seeking comments on its proposals to offer support to SMEs to maximise the value of their IP assets.

The litigation between Apple and Samsung about tablet computers and the alleged infringement of a (Community) Registered Design has been taking place in the High Court this week.

A recent IPKat post by Darren Smyth highlights the adverse consumer reaction to the issuance of a patent to a US company 23andMe which offers to sequence your genome and tell you about its...