News

In most jurisdictions a patent will not be granted until it has been examined and approved by the relevant patent office. This examination process is referred to as ‘patent prosecution’ and often entails multiple rounds of Examination Reports issued by the patent office and ‘responses’ filed on behalf of the patent applicant. Consequently, the patent […]

The contribution made by IP-led industries to the European economy has increased according to a second EU-wide study published by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The study has revealed that industries described as ‘IPR-intensive’ – those that file a high number of Community Trade Marks, Registered Design […]

When it comes to amending the scope of protection of your claims, the European Patent Office applies very strict requirements that any new scope of protection sought must have already been directly and unambiguously disclosed somewhere in the application as filed. There is one exception to this rule, undisclosed disclaimers.  They are ‘undisclosed’ because the […]

As of 1 July 2016, the European Patent Office (EPO) is aiming to increase the speed with which opposition proceedings are brought to a conclusion and thereby improve legal certainty for all parties concerned. The opposition procedure allows any person to centrally challenge the validity of a European patent within nine months of its grant […]

Earlier this month, the World Intellectual Property Office announced the addition of a new patent searching tool, which will allow users to locate International patent applications based on chemical structures.  Whilst perhaps not of interest to many, this facility has the potential to revolutionise the searching of chemical subject matter. Making it an exciting addition […]

The Patent Box scheme was introduced by the UK Government in April 2013 to allow UK companies to pay less Corporation Tax on profits generated from the sale of patented products and from the use of patented processes and machinery. Shortly after its introduction, the scheme faced criticism from foreign governments.  This led to a […]