Blog
OHIM Issue Registered Design Certificates Electronically
Adrian Hocking | 19th April 2013
From Monday 15 November 2010, The Trademark and Design Registration Office of the European Union (otherwise known as ‘OHIM’) will only issue registration certificates for Registered Community Designs electronically. Previously paper certificates were i …
Design Registration in Europe and the US
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
Often a person or a company will develop a product which is a variation on a core theme. The core theme may well be inventive in its own right and thus could well be patented. A patent lasts for 20 years typically from the filing date and should …
Scope of European Registered Design Confirmed
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
The scope of protection for registered industrial designs is revealed following a recent case involving two of the world’s largest vacuum cleaner manufacturers, Dyson and Vax. Dyson’s breakthrough technology which created the two-stage cyclone vacuum c …
Narrower Patent protection for Biotech Inventions?
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
The ECJ has made a controversial decision to hand down judgement on a case which had requested a preliminary ruling on the biotechnology Directive’s legal protection regarding genetic material. The case, which has been of great political and commercial …
File Sharers and Digital Copyright Infringement
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
The Digital Economy Act 2010 has been rushed through by the UK’s Parliament following growing concerns over copyright infringement. Generally, copyright is a sidelined issue compared to patent and trademark infringement. However, this particular …
Keep A Careful Watch on your Trademarks!
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
The recent High Court case of Specsavers International Healthcare Ltd v Asda Stores Ltd has given a strong warning about parasitical advertising and riding unfairly “on the coat tails” of others. The principle of “Unfair Advantage” and the extended pro …
EPO Requires Submission of Earlier Search Reports
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
As of 1 January 2011, the European Patent Office ( EPO ) will now require any earlier search issued in connection with a corresponding foreign priority application to be submitted for consideration during the Search and Examination stages. Fortunately, …
Missed your Priority Period? All is Not Lost
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
Once a patent application has been filed, there is a general rule in patent law (Article 4 of the Paris Convention) entitling the applicant or his successor in title to file for patent protection elsewhere in the world whilst relating the two applicati …
Research and Development Tax Relief
Robert Games | 19th April 2013
Companies that carry out innovative activities to technically improve products, processes, devices, materials and/or services are able to claim tax relief to reduce their tax bill or, for some loss-making companies, to claim a cash sum. Research and de …
European Patent System – Changing to a Single Common Patent ?
Adrian Hocking | 17th December 2012
The common single European patent system has long been proposed but never yet adopted. The present system provides for grant of a single European patent which covers 27 member states. Once granted, the European patent is ‘validated’ in the chosen membe …
