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Intellectual Property UK
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June 13, 2024
Samsung Polishes Off Cleaning Robot Patent Protests At EPO
Samsung has beaten a challenge to the validity of its European patent over a cleaning robot, convincing an appeals panel that the design adopted multiple sensors in a way that wasn't obvious.
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June 12, 2024
Nike 'Footware' TM Too Descriptive To Defeat Puma Challenge
Nike cannot resurrect its trademark for the phrase "footware," a European Union court ruled on Wednesday, siding with rival Puma that the word was too descriptive to warrant intellectual property protections.
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June 12, 2024
Anheuser's TM 'Ultra' No More As EU Court Sides With Amstel
Amstel on Wednesday was successful in persuading a European Union court to overturn a ruling that Anheuser-Busch's "Ultra" beer trademark is distinctive, proving that it's a generic term that does not merit protection.
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June 12, 2024
Sony Music Unit Sued By Label Over Viral TikTok Hit
Sony Music unit Ministry of Sound Records has been hit with a copyright claim by a U.K. record label for releasing a version of artist Jay Sean's 2008 hit "Ride It" after a DJ's remake went viral on TikTok.
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June 12, 2024
Tour De France Loses Fight Against Gym's 'Tour De X' TM
The organizer of the Tour de France cycle race lost its challenge against a German gym chain's "Tour de X" trademark Wednesday, after a European court ruled that many cycling competitions use the words "tour de."
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June 12, 2024
Google's GPay TM Gets Declined In Europe
Google lost its appeal on Wednesday after seeking to revive its "GPay" trademark for electronic payment services as a European court ruled that a Bulgarian rival had already cornered the digital market with "ePay."
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June 11, 2024
Lenovo Knocks Bid To 'Treble' Payment For SEPs
Lenovo hit back at InterDigital's contentions that a landmark patent ruling underestimated what the Chinese company should pay to license its essential wireless technology patents, claiming that the bid to "essentially triple" the sum should be thrown out.
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June 11, 2024
Alaska Airlines Loses Fight To Dodge $160M Virgin Royalties
Alaska Airlines lost its fight against Virgin on Tuesday to avoid paying $160 million in royalties, with a London appeals court ruling that the carrier still had to pay even if it did not use Virgin's branding.
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June 11, 2024
Nike Loses Appeal Against Geox Boomerang-Shaped TM
Nike failed to stop Geox from registering a boomerang-shaped trademark after European officials rejected the sportswear giant's arguments that the shape was too simple and didn't send buyers a message about the goods' origin.
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June 11, 2024
Klarna Gets 2nd Shot To Trim Startup's 'Klar' TM
Buy-now, pay-later giant Klarna has won another chance at restricting a German data analytics' "Klar" mark, after a European appeals board ruled the officials had not properly taken the fintech's reputation into account.
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June 11, 2024
Berkshire Hathaway Unit Loses Patent For Engine Lubricant
A specialty chemical maker has convinced European officials to revoke a patent covering an engine lubrication system belonging to Berkshire Hathaway-owned Lubrizol by arguing that scientists would have eventually made the invention without much effort.
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June 11, 2024
Royal Mail Accused Of Monopoly In Address Database Dispute
A software developer has hit back at Royal Mail's copyright infringement claim, accusing the postal service of holding a monopoly over the market for address searching software in the U.K.
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June 10, 2024
University, Astellas Fight To Keep Prostate Cancer Patent
The University of California's governing board clashed with three generic-drug makers trying to revoke the institution's patent for a prostate cancer drug in a London court Monday, arguing that the institution's patent should be ruled to be innovative and not obvious.
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June 10, 2024
InterDigital Says Court Lowballed Lenovo FRAND Rate
Counsel for InterDigital told a London appeals court Monday that a trial judge failed to adjust for "heavy discounts" on past sales when determining a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing rate for Lenovo to pay for a suite of its essential wireless technology patents.
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June 10, 2024
Frozen Cocktail Biz Melts Gelato Chain's 'Amori' TM Protests
A gelato chain cannot block a frozen cocktail company from registering its "Amori Gelato Cocktails" trademark because there's no real risk of consumers confusing the mark with its earlier "Amorino" sign, the U.K. Intellectual Property Office has ruled.
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June 10, 2024
Gilead Beats Fresh Challenge To Hepatitis C Drug Patent
Gilead Pharmasset LLC has beaten a challenge from a group of pharmaceutical rivals to its patent for a hepatitis C drug, dealing a fresh blow to medical nonprofits that have fought to open the door to cheaper generics.
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June 10, 2024
Oil Well Plugging System Does Not Infringe Rival's Patent
Two technology companies have won a declaration that their oil well plugging device does not infringe a rival's patents over similar tech, convincing an intellectual property officer that the systems "wash" disused wells in different ways.
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June 10, 2024
Luxembourg Research Institute Loses Database Patent Bid
A Luxembourg research organization on Monday lost its bid to register a patent for algorithms for updating databases, with a European Patent Office appeals board concluding that the method was obvious to a person skilled in computing.
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June 10, 2024
Amazon Sold Facial Tech To Russia, Ex-Employee Alleges
A former Amazon worker has alleged that the technology giant sold facial recognition software to a Russian company in violation of U.K. sanctions.
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June 07, 2024
Crypto Developers Fight To Gag Wright After 'Satoshi' Trial
A group of cryptocurrency asset developers urged a London judge on Friday to order Australian computer scientist Craig Wright to never again assert that he is the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto, arguing it was the best way to end his "campaign of dishonesty."
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June 07, 2024
5 Questions For Finnegan UK TM Chief Clare Cornell
Clare Cornell, the head of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP's trademark group in London, talks to Law360 about the appeal of working on trademarks and how Finnegan's practice has evolved since she joined in 2016.
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June 07, 2024
Patent Firm Seeks To Ax Claim Over £1.5M Settlement Advice
Patent solicitors Atkinson Wheller Ltd. asked a court Friday to throw out a negligence claim brought on behalf of a former client, because the deed transferring the claim to a law firm was "void and unenforceable."
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June 07, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen British broadcaster GB News hit with a libel claim by climate activist Dale Vince, MGM take aim at an immersive events company over intellectual property rights to the James Bond franchise, and law firms Stephenson Harwood and Bowen-Morris & Partners tackle a contracts claim by investment adviser Yieldstreet. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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June 07, 2024
Nestlé Loses EU Patent For Sterile Baby Food
The appeals division of the European Union's patent authority has pulled the plug on a patent owned by Nestlé for a type of sterilized baby food after a German law firm persuaded an appeals board that it was too vague.
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June 07, 2024
BASF Loses Bid To Block Rival's Plastics Patent
Austrian plastics maker Borealis has fought off BASF's second attack on a patent related to a commodity plastic used in products like surgical masks, after European officials ruled that the combined use of specific components was inventive.
Expert Analysis
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Germany's Google Controls Illustrate Global Antitrust Trend
Germany's recent move to rein in Google with extended restrictions on anti-competitive behavior provides an example of the new aggressive stance regulators around the world are adopting as tech giants grow their power in the digital economy, says Andrea Pomana at ADVANT Beiten.
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Opinion
Solution To Patent Eligibility Quagmire Lies In Constitution
A lack of clarity on patent eligibility has undermined the credibility of the patent system, and a possible resolution is for courts or Congress to define judicial exceptions to patent-eligible subject matter in their most concise form — in line with constitutional guarantees, says Indi Rajasingham at the Mmillenniumm Group.
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Examining EU's Drift Toward US-Style Employer Pact Scrutiny
As European Union competition authorities express enforcement interest in employment issues such as no-poach and wage-fixing agreements — which have been the subject of U.S. enforcement action for some time — companies may need to recalibrate their training and compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What SEP Holders Can Take Away From UK's Apple Ruling
A U.K. court's recent decision in the standard essential patent dispute between Apple and Optis Cellular Technology provides encouragement for SEP owners litigating their portfolios in the U.K. and reaffirms the country's place as a patentee-friendly jurisdiction, says Tess Waldron at Powell Gilbert.
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AI Inventorship Decision Leaves Open Questions
A Virginia federal court's recent decision in Thaler v. Iancu, finding that artificial intelligence cannot be named as a patent inventor, highlights questions that will have to be answered as AI increasingly contributes to inventorship, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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What Patent Applications Signal About Green Energy Trends
Steadily increasing patent activity related to clean energy technologies suggests that the proportion of energy derived from green sources will also continue to grow — but smaller companies could be locked out of the patent race, even as sustainability becomes an inescapable business imperative, says Greg Sharp at Haseltine Lake.
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Takeaways On Pre-Action Protocols From UK Patent Ruling
The U.K. High Court's recent patent ruling in Add2 Research v. dSpace instructs parties in proper pre-action discussions that avoid breaches of protocol, including how to provide materials in confidence, say Angela Jack and Emily Atherton at EIP.
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6 Ways To Guide Applications Under New Patent Classification
Intellectual property practitioners can navigate the recently implemented Cooperative Patent Classification system to direct applications to specific prior art units within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, avoid especially difficult units, and improve clients' portfolios in newly emerging technologies, say Roberta Young and Brian Michaelis at Seyfarth.
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Mitigating User Content Risk After EU Copyright Directive
As the deadline approaches for member states to implement the European Union’s new copyright directive, which will hold certain online content service providers liable for copyright infringement pertaining to user-uploaded content, companies should have risk-mitigation strategies in place, say attorneys at MoFo.
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The Pandemic's Bright Spots For Lawyers Who Are Parents
The COVID-19 crisis has allowed lawyers to hone remote advocacy strategies and effectively represent clients with minimal travel — abilities that have benefited working parents and should be utilized long after the pandemic is over, says Chelsea Loughran at Wolf Greenfield.
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ITC Seems Unlikely To Stay Investigations For Parallel IPRs
The U.S. International Trade Commission's recent order denying Ocado's attempt to stay a dispute with AutoStore pending resolution of its inter partes review petitions signals that an ITC complainant's patents are effectively shielded from IPR challenges, at least under current Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.
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A Framework For Evaluating Willingness Of FRAND Licensees
As an increasing number of standard-essential patent cases turn on whether a manufacturer is willing to pay a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory royalty for SEPs, Jorge Contreras at the University of Utah identifies conduct that typically indicates willingness or unwillingness, as well as conduct that should be viewed as indeterminate.
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Opinion
US Should Learn From German Courts Balancing SEP Rights
The German high court's recent decision in Sisvel v. Haier set a productive tone in balancing the rights of patentees and implementers in standard-essential patent disputes, and its understanding of negotiation realities should be followed by the U.S., say Cravath's David Kappos, former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, and Daniel Etcovitch.
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Examining EPO's Strict Approach To AI Patent Disclosure
Because a recent decision by the European Patent Office Boards of Appeal takes a potentially problematic strict approach to disclosure requirements for machine learning-related patent applications, U.S. applicants filing in the EU should disclose several specific data training sets, says Ronny Amirsehhi at Clifford Chance.
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ITC Dispute May Lead To PTAB Litigation Strategy Shifts
A pending motion to stay the dispute between AutoStore and Ocado at the U.S. International Trade Commission highlights competing timelines of the ITC and Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and has the potential to reshape the typical forum selection strategies for patentees and defense tactics for challengers, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.