News
Calling time on the EPO’s “ten day rule”
3 October 2023Read more >The European Patent Office’s “ten day rule” will come to an end later this year following a decision made by the EPO’s Administrative Council in 2022. Under the existing “ten day rule” (provided by Rules 126(2) and 127(2) EPC), postal and electronic notifications from the European Patent Office are deemed to have been received ten […]
Invalidity can only be declared in respect of registered EU trademarks
20 September 2023Read more >Trade mark applicant Grzegorz Mordalski, filed for registration of a trade mark with the Polish Trademark Office on January 21, 2016 for class 30. The Trademark Office refused registration of this trade mark due to an earlier similar European Union trade mark, No. 008291056 ANITA, registered by Anita Food SA for classes 30 and 43, […]
X marks the spot for Musk’s rebrand strategy, but could it backfire?
28 July 2023Read more >Elon Musk’s decision to rename Twitter as ‘X’ and implement the changes almost immediately, has attracted widespread public attention. But could the speedy rebrand have unwelcome repercussions? The rebranding is thought to be part of a strategic plan by Elon Musk to reinvent Twitter, which he acquired in October 2022 as a multi-purpose platform for […]
Decision of the Federal Patent Court 25 W (pat) 526/21 KÖLNER DOM of 19 January 2023
27 July 2023Read more >“KÖLNER DOM” cannot be protected as a trade mark The “KÖLNER DOM” or Cologne Cathedral, is a world-famous cathedral and a very popular cultural site in Germany. The applicant had applied for the registration of “KÖLNER DOM” as a trade mark in order to commercialise the name for various goods and services, including clothing, souvenirs, […]
New Referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (G1/23)
7 July 2023Read more >On 27 June, a new referral was made to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) in case T 0438/19. The referral seeks clarification on whether a commercially available product, with an undisclosed composition or internal structure, should be excluded from the state of the art for patentability within the meaning of Article 54(2) EPC. “State […]
Plausibility hurdle in the UK shifted up a notch, as invalidity of BMS patent confirmed by Court of Appeal
22 May 2023Read more >Summary The UK Court of Appeal (CoA) confirmed the invalidity of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)’s apixaban patent on 4 May 2023.1 The appeal decision centred on the question of plausibility and is the first UK decision to consider plausibility since the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal’s decision G2/21. The CoA held that BMS had not presented […]
