Case Reports

Loonshot in Surgical Robotics - Patent Landscape Analysis

Loonshot = an idea that's not just big, it seems mad to even try - Safi BahcallRobot-assisted surgery is a hot area in Medtech. The number of patent filings in robotic surgery system (patent...

Failure to serve US company

The US member of an international group of companies has successfully disputed that it has been duly served via the office of its UK subsidiary.

G1/22 & G2/22: Entitlement to priority

BackgroundAs shown by the figure above, the applications in question are European stage of an application under the Patent Cooperation treaty (PCT) and its divisional applications.

Design Rights and Video Evidence Wrongs

ASR Interiors Limited v 1) AWS Trading Limited and 2) Giatalia International LimitedA design rights case that provides an example of the wrong way to give video evidence.

CHINA TANG vs CHINA TANG

In a clash of a Cantonese restaurant called CHINA TANG and a Chinese takeaway also called CHINA TANG, the former succeeds.Background The Claimants in this case run a Cantonese restaurant called...

Neurim v Mylan – Is it finally all wrapped up or is the door still open for round 3?

Following on from Mr Justice Meade's judgment on the preliminary issues in the re-match between Neurim (and Flynn) and Generics (UK) Ltd (now trading as Viatris but formerly Mylan) concerning a...

Popular tourist design held invalid

A design, which is no doubt familiar to most readers, has been held invalid by Recorder Douglas Campbell QC in a recent IPEC decision (here).BackgroundThe Claimant, Mr Erol, brought a claim against...

No points to KnitPro after application to challenge service in IPEC fails

This judgment concerns a three-fold application by the Defendants (together "KnitPro") brought in the context of a long running trade mark dispute relating to knitting needles.

Déjà vu in melatonin rematch as Neurim v Mylan (Take II) marches on in the UK

With a back catalogue to rival Bob Dylan, the latest development in the Neurim – Mylan battle over Mylan's generic melatonin product saw Mr Justice Meade referee the trial of preliminary issues in...

The Unitary Patent System is on the way

We reported last year that the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) were progressing. The main hurdle left to clear was sufficient countries ratifying the Protocol on the Provisional...

Inventor as Expert, Unable to Ventilate Appropriate Evidence

In Fleur Tehrani v Hamilton Bonaduz AG & Ors [2021] EWHC 3457 (IPEC), heard before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, ("IPEC") the court conducted an assessment of the validity of a patent...

Oh Polly to pay substantial damages for unregistered design infringement

BackgroundOriginal Beauty (“Claimants”) alleged infringement of their unregistered design rights under UK and EU law and that the defendants had passed off their brand “Oh Polly” (“Defendants”) as a...

Developer’s Forensic Examination of Agreement Still Unsuccessful in Appeal Against Former Employer

The Court of Appeal has upheld the first instance judgment in Penhallurick v MD5 Limited and agreed that MD5 Limited ("MD5") still owns the copyright of the works in this dispute; and thus dismissing...

Duchess of Sussex held to be entitled to reasonable expectation of privacy and copyright in letter to father

On 11 February 2021, the High Court ruled in favour of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, in her dispute against Associated Newspapers over the publication of a number of articles in ‘The Mail on...

High court holds on to jurisdiction in SEP cases

IntroductionThe recent decision of the UK Supreme Court in the Unwired Planet v Huawei, and Conversant v Huawei & ZTE appeals which affirmed the UK court's jurisdiction to determine global FRAND...