The European Patent Office has recently approved the revised Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA) which will come into force to any pending or newly filed appeals relating to European patents or applications from 1 January 2020 onwards. This...
The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced as of July 2019 that the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme with IP Australia is to be extended to June 2022. In total, this means that the EPO has PPH programmes in effect with fifteen other...
In the new IPEC guide issued last week, it was rather quietly announced that from October 2019 District Judges will be available in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle to hear intellectual property small claims. This will be welcome news for...
For start-ups that are building their business around an innovative product, preventing more established companies from copying their idea by having a patent granted is essential. However, there are plenty of other essential aspects of a business which need...
At the time of writing, the UK Parliament is continuing to debate the terms upon which the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland will leave the European Union. In light of this, the deadline for the draft withdrawal Agreement to be signed, has been extended to 31...
If you have filed an initial patent application in your home country and are considering an international PCT patent application, analyse any available search results prior to filing and consider modifying the claims to make them as unique and inventive as possible.