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Under the UK Trade Marks Act 1994, a certification mark is defined in Section 50(1) as: “a mark indicating that the goods or services in connection with which it is used are certified by the proprietor of the mark in respect of origin, material, mode of manufacture of goods or performance of services, quality, accuracy […]

Webmarking Since 1 October 2014, patent holders have been able to better protect their patents through webmarks, a system whereby patent holders use a web address to mark their patented products instead of patent numbers. This system benefits patent holders as it removes the difficulties associated with having to include the patent number on every […]

On 7 September, the European Commission released their position paper on the treatment of all intellectual property (IP) rights post Brexit. IP rights include EU trade marks, registered and unregistered community designs, geographical indications and community plant variety rights. The Commission’s guiding principle is that the protection of unitary rights enjoyed in the United Kingdom […]

On Thursday 24 August, Lithuania ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), bringing the total number of ratifications to fourteen. As it stands, applicants will be able to protect their inventions in at least 16 countries (the existing 14 plus UK and Germany) with a single Unitary Patent (UP) when the system is […]

Inventors and applicants are often surprised to learn that the European Patent Convention (EPC) does not formally require a patent application to include experimental data. However, it has long been understood that any technical effect of an invention can only be relied upon to support an inventive step to the extent that the application as […]

Estonia has ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA). Estonia’s ratification means that the geographical protection provided by the Unitary Patent (UP) upon implementation will cover to at least 15 countries. The complete list of countries to have ratified the UPCA can be found here but must also include the UK and Germany […]