Insights

Articles Oct132020

The wheels continue to come off DABUS

The Artificial Inventor Project have filed patent applications around the world for two inventions, which they say are invented by an AI system called DABUS. Whilst the nuances of patent law vary from country to country, most (if not all) patent systems around the world assume that only natural persons can be inventors. Consequently, the applications are being refused by patent offices around the world.

Articles Oct092020

G3/19 decision – a tale of broccoli, tomatoes and peppers

The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) has ruled that plants or animals produced by an essentially biological process are not patentable in Decision G3/19 of 20 May 2020, a conclusion that goes against earlier Decisions in G2/131 and G2/121.

Articles Oct052020

Unwired Planet v Huawei and Huawei v Conversant

On 26 August 2020, the UK Supreme Court issued a judgment on the Unwired Planet v Huawei and Huawei v Conversant cases.

Articles Oct012020

Covid-19 and IP: the green shoots of recovery

First published in Cambridge Catalyst, Parminder Lally explores how the pandemic has accelerated innovation. Covid-19 and IP Wow, what a strange year 2020 has turned out to be! For the January issue,

Articles Sep232020

Fit Kitchen Ltd – triumphant at the IPEC

Summary A small healthy ready meal delivery business Fit Kitchen Limited (FKL) saw victory at

Articles Sep012020

The virtual ‘courtroom’ experience at the IPEC

In June and July 2020, Appleyard Lees litigated an unprecedented number of trials in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) – which were held in an equally unprecedented, virtual format.

Articles Jul212020

Unregistered design rights: is there still any point?

Unregistered design rights (UDR) protects the shape or configuration of the whole or part of an article, excluding surface decoration. The design must be original and must not be commonplace.

Articles Jul152020

Are digital twins as patentable as their physical counterparts?

We live in an increasingly digital world – not only do more of us communicate with each other and access information or content using ‘apps’ and the internet, but some of the work we may have previously conducted in the ‘real’ or physical world is now being performed using computer simulations or digital twins.

Articles Jul062020

Finding the ‘right’ slogan: FMCG sector to “Have a break” after all…

In the United Kingdom and European Union, it is notoriously difficult to register slogans as trade marks. To stand a chance of success, brand owners must prepare their case

Articles Jun292020

CRISPR: An update

What is CRISPR? Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) are a family of DNA sequences found in bacteria.

Articles Jun262020

What’s the scoop on the Mr Whippy decision?

Despite “convincing arguments” against the strength of the evidence of use submitted by Unilever Plc, following the close-cut decision of the IPO on the 11 November 2019, the applicants’