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ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ UK

  • May 12, 2025

    Wrigley Wins Appeal Challenging Rival's Stevia Gum Patent

    Chewing gum maker Wrigley has convinced appellate patent officials to scrap a stevia-sweetened chewing gum patent owned by rival confectioner Perfetti Van Melle, with the European Patent Office ruling that the recipe lacks the innovation needed to warrant protection.

  • May 12, 2025

    Craig Wright Hit With Legal Action Ban Over Meritless Claims

    Computer scientist Craig Wright has been barred from bringing legal action in the U.K. for three years, with a London court ruling on Monday that he used the courts to "terrorize perceived opponents" with meritless cases over claims he invented bitcoin.

  • May 12, 2025

    NYSE Operator Blocks Crypto Co. From Using 'Ice' Branding

    U.S. financial services conglomerate Intercontinental Exchange has convinced a Dutch court to bar cryptocurrency company Ice Labs from using its "Ice Open Network" branding, arguing the public would likely assume the crypto firm was related to the international finance giant.

  • May 12, 2025

    EUIPO Weighs Expanding Mediation To AI Copyright Disputes

    The European Union ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Office could begin mediating disputes between copyright holders and developers of artificial intelligence, the agency's chief told the bloc's parliament Monday.

  • May 12, 2025

    Mancunian Law Firm Sues To Block Firm With Same Name

    Amicus Solicitors, a firm in northwest England, has asked the High Court to prevent a rival firm from using the name Amicus Solicitors London, arguing that it has a long-standing reputation associated with the name.

  • May 12, 2025

    Novartis Hit With Challenge To Blood Pressure Drug IP

    Generics drugs manufacturer Accord has taken aim at Novartis' protections over a blend of two blood pressure drugs, telling a London court that the combination of both medicines is not inventive.

  • May 09, 2025

    CMA Weighs Viagogo Bid To Buy Back IP From StubHub Sale

    The U.K.'s competition watchdog said Friday it has launched a consultation into a request from online ticket reseller Viagogo to reacquire the rights to some non-British domain names and trademarks from its former business StubHub International.

  • May 09, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a subsidiary of State Street Corp. sue British sports betting giant Entain, Manolete Partners and HSBC tackle action just weeks after signing a £17 million revolving credit facility agreement, and a commercial fraud claim launched by EFG Bank against Mirabaud & CIE.

  • May 09, 2025

    UK-US Trade Deal Needs Work On Pharma And IP, Pros Say

    The U.K.-U.S. trade deal is a starting point for closer economic ties, but the agreement needs more work on pharmaceuticals and intellectual property before it's finalized, according to professionals.

  • May 09, 2025

    Appeals Court Blocks Attack On UK Design 'Cloned' From EU

    A London appeals court said Friday that a fencing company cannot attempt to void a rival's U.K. design protection because it is a "clone" of a European Union community design right that it has already tried to revoke.

  • May 09, 2025

    Belfast Sandwich Shop Can't Get 'Hero' TM In UK

    A Swiss food manufacturer has dashed the hopes of a sandwich company of getting a U.K. trademark over its "Hero" logo, proving that there is a risk of confusion with its own earlier Hero brand.

  • May 09, 2025

    Spotify Revives Bid For Voice-Command Playback Patent

    Spotify can try again for a patent over its voice-command playback technology because the reasons behind an earlier decision to reject the application were patchy, a European appeals board said in a ruling published Friday.

  • May 08, 2025

    Chinese Co. Loses Fight In UPC Heating Pump Claim

    Danish pump maker Grundfos convinced the Unified Patent Court on Thursday to bar a Chinese rival from selling heat pumps in Germany, France and Italy, with judges agreeing that the pumps infringe one of Grundfos' patents.

  • May 08, 2025

    Boehringer Can't Halt Production Of Generic Fibrosis Drug

    The Unified Patent Court on Thursday refused pharmaceuticals giant Boehringer Ingelheim's attempt to stop a rival from making a generic version of its lung disease medicine, ruling there is no risk of "imminent" patent infringement.

  • May 08, 2025

    Ex-Man United Goalkeeper Saves 'DDG' Trademark

    Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea Quintana has kept his hands on a trademark bearing his initials "DDG," despite attempts by a German board games company to convince a European court it is too much like its "DOG" mark.

  • May 15, 2025

    Akin Hires Tech And IP Pro From Orrick To Boost Deals Team

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has recruited a tech and intellectual property lawyer from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP to add to better advise clients on the use, acquisition and protection of technology.

  • May 08, 2025

    EU Nations Fined For Delay In Adopting Copyright Law

    The European Union's top court on Thursday slapped Portugal, Bulgaria and Denmark with millions of euros in fines after they took too long to implement the bloc's copyright directive into national law.

  • May 08, 2025

    EU Moves To Revamp 20-Year-Old Merger Control Rules

    The European Commission called on Thursday for responses to plans to overhaul its 20-year-old merger control rules as it seeks to give weight to innovation, sustainability and security needs when it assesses deals taking place between competitors in the bloc.

  • May 07, 2025

    Pharma Wary Of UK-India Trade Deal Despite IP Promises

    The U.K.'s new trade deal with India promises a robust suite of intellectual property provisions, but some have voiced concerns about the still-under-wraps life sciences provisions.

  • May 07, 2025

    Taylor Wessing Launches New Patent Practice In Paris

    Taylor Wessing LLP said Wednesday that it has hired Pinsent Masons' head of intellectual property in Paris and three other lawyers to launch a new patent practice in the French capital.

  • May 07, 2025

    Media Giant RTL Suffers Blow In TM Appeal At EU Court

    A European Union court on Wednesday refused RTL's attempt to restore its full set of trademark protections over its name, ruling that the media giant has not always put the sign to proper use.

  • May 07, 2025

    Construction Biz Denies Owing Costs For Rival's Lost Sales

    A construction product company has told a London court that its rival deserves only minimal compensation for its infringement of a wall paneling patent, claiming the competitor licensed the patent but never sold the product itself.

  • May 07, 2025

    Ericsson Drops UPC Case Against Folded Payments Biz

    Ericsson has cut an insolvent payments company out of its video-coding patent infringement claim against computer maker Asus and a logistics company, the Unified Patent Court said Wednesday.

  • May 06, 2025

    Apple's $502M License Bill May Draw SEP Owners To UK

    Technology companies may steer clear of bringing licensing disputes over standard-essential patents to the U.K. after the Court of Appeal's landmark decision to increase the amount Apple must pay for a suite of 4G patents by almost tenfold.

  • May 06, 2025

    Leica Faces Setback In Fight For Magnification Patent

    An appeals panel has dealt a blow to Leica's European patent over a way of boosting magnification, ruling in a decision released Tuesday that the patent in its current form isn't sufficiently new.

Expert Analysis

  • Law Commission's 'Data Objects' Proposal Is Far-Reaching

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    The Law Commission’s proposals to recognize data objects as a new category of personal property would bring fundamental changes were they to be implemented, and would have significant ramifications for finance litigation, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • UK Rulings Give Chinese Courts Wide Powers In IP Disputes

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    The recent rulings in Nokia v. Oppo and Philips v. Oppo open the door for Chinese courts to adjudicate worldwide rate-setting terms for standard-essential patents, and in so doing present a timely wake-up call as to China's influence, say F. Scott Kieff at George Washington University Law School and Thomas Grant at the University of Cambridge.

  • Swatch V. Samsung Offers IP Warning To Platform Operators

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    The recent U.K. High Court decision of Swatch v. Samsung demonstrates that while platform operators may wish to exercise greater control over the apps distributed on their platforms, this carries with it a corresponding duty to apply due diligence to protect the intellectual property rights of third parties, say Alex Borthwick and William Hillson at Powell Gilbert.

  • Opinion

    The USPTO Should Give Ukraine Even More Help

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark office should take three direct steps to help confer upon Ukraine's patent office the same benefits it previously granted to Russia's Rospatent, in addition to the sanctions the USPTO has already conferred in response to the attack on Ukraine, say David Kappos at Cravath, Teresa Summers at Summers Law Group and Andrew Baluch at Smith Baluch.

  • International Law May Protect Foreign Investors In Russia

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    Investment treaties that allow eligible foreign investors to bring claims for compensation by way of international arbitration may offer a better, or the only, avenue to recover losses for assets that have been seized by Russia, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Amazon TM Ruling Proves Important For Global Websites

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    The U.K. Court of Appeal recently found that Amazon infringed Lifestyle Equities' trademark, and its analysis of whether there was an intention to target particular customers, provides welcome relief for brand owners and lessons on avoiding infringement for the operators of global websites, say Steven James and Hattie Chessher at Brown Rudnick.

  • Sheeran Ruling Raises Burden For Copyright Plaintiffs

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    In requiring proof of access, rather than proof of the possibility of access, the U.K. High Court’s decision in Ed Sheeran’s recent copyright case will provide some security to those in the music industry, say David Fink and Armound Ghoorchian at Venable.

  • Litigants Eager To Prove The Song Remains The Same

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    Recent lawsuits against Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, alleging their hit songs infringed others' copyrights, suggest that, despite the difficulty of proving musical plagiarism has occurred, the appetite for this type of litigation may be growing, says Nick Eziefula at Simkins.

  • ECJ Ruling Strengthens German Patent Owners' Rights

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    Following the European Court of Justice's recent ruling in Phoenix Contact, it is expected that German courts will issue more preliminary injunctions in patent cases, making Germany, and particularly Munich, an even more attractive venue for patent enforcement, says Sandra Mueller at Squire Patton.

  • Taking A Long-Term View On Russia's Patent Landscape

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    The imposition of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine has raised questions about the future of patent procurement and enforcement in Russia, but companies should not dismiss their Russian patents prematurely, especially in industries such as energy, agriculture, electronics and cybersecurity, say Soniya Shah and Ming-Tao Yang at Finnegan.

  • Assessing Litigation Uses Of USPTO 5G Development Study

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    Jonathan Putnam at Competition Dynamics evaluates the arguments for and against studies like the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent examination of 5G developers' patent activities, analyzing whether such assessments are reliable for litigation.

  • Latest Song Copyright Rulings Clarify What's Protectable

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    Recent copyright infringement decisions in favor of musicians Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry and Led Zeppelin should help turn the tide against frivolous music copyright lawsuits, says Gerald Sauer at Sauer & Wagner.

  • How To Wind Down Patents In Russia Over Next 3 Months

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    With June 23 approaching as the last day on which U.S. businesses may pay anything to the Russian patent office for filing patents directly or through international Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, practitioners should begin making crucial filing and search decisions now to avoid liability, says Mark Mathison at Kilpatrick.

  • Evaluating M&S Bottle Design Infringement Case Against Aldi

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    A central issue in Marks & Spencer's recently filed intellectual property infringement suit over Aldi's Gold Flake Gin Liqueur bottles may be whether the informed user would have the same overall impression from the M&S registered bottle design and the Aldi designs, say Alex Borthwick and Fraser Simpson at Powell Gilbert.

  • Brexit's Effect On UK Trademarks, 1 Year Later

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    Charlotte Wilding at Wedlake Bell discusses the status of U.K. trademark rules and regulations one year post-Brexit, including a potential increase in intellectual property rights and challenges, delays at the ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Office and a growth of innovation and divergence.

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