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  • June 20, 2025

    Reckitt Denies Ex-VP's £1M Claim, Cites Trade Secret Breach

    Consumer goods company Reckitt has rejected claims that it owes more than £1 million ($1.4 million) to a former senior executive from Russia, arguing that it fired him ahead of the end of his garden leave because he was working with a bidder for part of its business. 

  • June 27, 2025

    Hogan Lovells Adds IP Duo In Paris From A&O Shearman

    Hogan Lovells has broadened its intellectual property litigation bench in Europe with the hire of two heavyweight intellectual property litigators, who join the firm's Paris office as partners from A&O Shearman.

  • June 20, 2025

    BBC Confronts AI Biz Perplexity Over Content Scraping

    The BBC said Friday that it has threatened to take legal action against Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, claiming that the company trained its model on the broadcaster's content.

  • June 20, 2025

    Janssen Biotech Loses Patent For Lab-Grown Cells

    Janssen Biotech has lost its case at a European Patent Office appellate board to patent its method for treating Type 1 diabetes through lab-grown cells, after the patent appeals board agreed with rival Sanofi that its method lacked the required inventive edge.

  • June 20, 2025

    Mathys & Squire Appoints New Chief For Consulting Arm

    Intellectual property specialist Mathys & Squire LLP said Friday that it has recruited a senior manager at KPMG Law to lead its consulting arm.

  • June 19, 2025

    EPO Rejects Narrow Read Of Patent Claims In Landmark Case

    The top appeals board at the European Patent Office has ruled that examiners must always look at the description and drawings when interpreting patents, ditching the approach of assessing a patent's claims in isolation.

  • June 19, 2025

    Swedish Court Resurrects BSH IP Battle With Electrolux

    Sweden's Svea Court of Appeal has resurrected appliance giant BSH's patent infringement claim against rival Electrolux, following a landmark ruling from the European Union's top court that gives BSH the go-ahead to pursue its claim outside the bloc.

  • June 19, 2025

    Dior Beats Hong Kong Co.'s 'Dio' TM

    European officials have nixed a Hong Kong firm's trademark application for "Dio," ruling that shoppers might think it was somehow linked to the online "Diorverse" range of French luxury brand Christian Dior.

  • June 19, 2025

    Formula One 'Surrenders' Rights To Old EU TM

    Formula One has lost one of its iconic F1 trademarks after declaring its "total surrender" to European officials, having failed to provide any evidence that it had used the sign in the past five years amid a rebranding campaign.

  • June 19, 2025

    Nestlé's Crunch Crumbles After Fitness Brand Challenge

    Nestlé has lost its "Crunch" trademark for a chocolate bar after it left a bid by a British sports nutrition company to nix the mark unchallenged, with officials finding the food giant had not put the mark to good use.

  • June 18, 2025

    Cycling Brand's 'Brooks' TM Row Gets Fresh Air In Appeal Win

    A bicycle gear company has revived its attempt to block a trademark registration by U.S. rival Brooks Running, having convinced an EU appeals board that its saddlebags are a little too close to athletic bags and backpacks aimed at runners.

  • June 18, 2025

    Artist Defends 'Fishrot' Apology Spoof As Free Expression

    An Icelandic artist urged a London appellate judge Wednesday to give him a chance to override a decision that he could not successfully defend against a claim from the country's largest seafood company alleging he created a spoof website to publish a false apology over a bribery scandal.

  • June 18, 2025

    Standards Org. Halts 'Bluetooth Karaoke Microphone' TM Bid

    A Bluetooth standards organization has persuaded European Union officials to block a "Bluetooth Karaoke Microphone" trademark application, proving that consumers could connect the mark to the Bluetooth brand.

  • June 18, 2025

    EU Court Affirms Decision To Publicize Pesticide Ingredients

    An agrochemical company lost its appeal at a European court on Wednesday to block the European Food Safety Authority from releasing a confidential list of ingredients in one of its pesticides in the interest of public knowledge.

  • June 18, 2025

    US Biotech Biz Says Rival's Gene Editing Patent Is Invalid

    A U.S. biotech company and two manufacturers have denied they infringed a South Korean rival's gene-editing patent, urging a London court to declare the patent invalid.

  • June 17, 2025

    EasyGroup Appeals TM Loss To 'Easy Live' Auction Co.

    U.K. venture capital conglomerate easyGroup on Tuesday urged a London appellate court to overturn the rejection of its trademark infringement and revocation case against an online auction services provider, arguing a lower court judge had wrongly disregarded evidence of confusion among consumers.

  • June 17, 2025

    UPC Backs Sales Ban On Kits Infringing 10x Genomics Patent

    The Unified Patent Court's Local Düsseldorf Division has ruled that Curio Bioscience's Seeker Spatial Mapping Kits infringed patents by 10x Genomics, upholding an injunction against the U.S. biotech company's rival in Germany, France and Sweden.

  • June 17, 2025

    Music Samples Not Copyright Exempt, Advocate General Says

    The pastiche exemption in European Union copyright law does not apply to the reuse of a musical sample in a new song, an adviser to the bloc's top court said Tuesday.

  • June 17, 2025

    Hat Co. Claims Rival's Dupes Caused 'Greenwashing' Gripe

    A hat brand has accused a rival of selling counterfeit headgear of an inferior quality and hurting its environmentally friendly brand, as consumers were leaving negative reviews accusing it of "greenwashing."

  • June 17, 2025

    Spanish Law Firm Voids Danish Outfit's 'Legaltech' TM

    A Spanish law firm has persuaded European Union officials to void most of a Danish organization's protections over its "Legaltech" name, proving that the word is too descriptive to function as a trademark.

  • June 17, 2025

    Spiritual Org. Says Publisher's Amazon Sales Infringed IP

    A spiritual society has accused a book publisher of infringing its copyright over a set of letters from the 1940s, telling a London court that it did not have the right to sell copies of the works on Amazon.

  • June 16, 2025

    Bratz Maker Beats Rival's £90M Claim Despite Antitrust Breach

    MGA Entertainment Inc., the company behind Bratz dolls, owes no compensation to a rival despite running a campaign of "undeniable" antitrust violations and making unjustified threats of patent infringement litigation, a London judge said Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    Taxi Payment Business Accuses Ex-Director Of Copying App

    A company providing card payment services to taxi drivers has accused a former director of breaching his duties and infringing its copyright by poaching senior developers to set up a rival payment system. 

  • June 16, 2025

    TotalEnergies Can't Nix Dow's Sports Turf Patent

    Chemical producer Dow Global Technologies defeated a challenge to its patent on a method for making artificial turf and sports tracks, after European officials rejected TotalEnergies' arguments that an earlier invention had already revealed how to make a specific polymer. 

  • June 16, 2025

    Royalties Body Says Blur Drummer's Class Action Is 'Weak'

    An organization that collects royalties for musicians in the U.K. continued its fight on Monday to fend off a claim brought by the drummer of rock band Blur, who alleges it unfairly distributes money, branding the case as "exceptionally weak."

Expert Analysis

  • Cos. Increasingly Must Protect And Manage Intangible Assets

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    As investors increasingly reward companies for their institutional knowledge and intellectual capital, there is a growing urgency for organizations — especially their chief legal officers — to identify, protect and fully realize the value of intangible assets, says Paul Garland at Deloitte.

  • EU's AI Act: Pitfalls And Opportunities For Data Collectors

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    The European Union’s new Artificial Intelligence Act entails explicit requirements and limitations throughout the AI value chain that might affect firms directly or indirectly dealing with AI development, such as data-as-a-service companies and web scraping providers, says Denas Grybauskas at Oxylabs.

  • Potential EPO Reproducibility Ruling May Affect IP Strategies

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    A potential European Patent Office decision in referral G1/23, concerning the reproducibility criteria for patenting commercial products, may affect how disclosures are assessed as prior art and could influence how companies weigh protecting innovations as trade secrets versus patents, says Michael Stott at Mathys & Squire.

  • Tips For Companies Tapping Into Commercial Cleantech

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    A recent report from the European Patent Office and European Investment Bank examining the global financing and commercialization of cleantech innovation necessary for the green energy transition can help companies understand and solve the issues in developing and implementing the full potential of cleantech, says Eleanor Maciver at Mewburn Ellis.

  • UPC Appeal Ruling Clarifies Language Change Framework

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    In 10x Genomics v. Curio Bioscience, the Unified Patent Court recently allowed proceedings to be conducted in English, rather than German, shedding light on the framework on UPC language change applications and hopefully helping prevent future disputes, say Conor McLaughlin and Nina O'Sullivan at Mishcon de Reya.

  • UK Trademark Law May Further Diverge From EU Standards

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    The recently enacted Retained EU Law Act, which removes the principle of EU law supremacy, offers a path for U.K. trademark law to distance itself even further from EU precedent — beyond the existing differences between the two trademark examination processes, say David Kemp and Michael Shaw at Marks & Clerk.

  • How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe

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    A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • Breaking Down The EPO's Revised Practice Guidelines

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    The European Patent Office's updated guidelines for examination recently took effect and include significant changes related to the priority right presumption, the concept of plausibility and artificial intelligence, providing invaluable insight on obtaining patents from the office, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • UK Amazon Ruling Spotlights TM Rights In International Sales

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    Highlighting the conflict between the territorial nature of trademark rights and the borderless nature of the internet, the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision — that Amazon's U.S. website could infringe EU and U.K. rights by targeting local buyers — offers guidance on navigating trademark rights in relation to online sales, say Emmy Hunt, Mark Kramer and Jordan Mitchell at Potter Clarkson.

  • Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation

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    While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.

  • Design Rights Can Build IP Protection, EU Lego Ruling Shows

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    The EU General Court's recent ruling in Delta Sport v. EU ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Office — that Lego's registered community design for a building block was valid — helps clarify when technically dictated designs can enjoy IP protection, and demonstrates how companies can strategically use design rights to protect and enhance their market position, says Christoph Moeller at Mewburn Ellis.

  • ECJ Ruling Clarifies Lawyer Independence Questions

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    The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in Bonnanwalt v. EU ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Office, finding that a law firm had maintained independence despite being owned by its client, serves as a pivotal reference point to understanding the contours of legal representation before EU courts, say James Tumbridge and Benedict Sharrock-Harris at Venner Shipley.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • Patent Plausibility Uncertainty Persists, EPO Petition Shows

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    While a recent petition for review at the European Patent Office — maintaining that the Board of Appeal misapplied the Enlarged Board of Appeal's order on whether a patent is "plausible" — highlights the continued uncertainty surrounding the plausibility concept, the outcome could provide useful guidance on the interpretation of orders, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • UMG-TikTok IP Rift Highlights Effective Rights Control Issues

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    Despite Universal Music Group's recent withdrawal of TikTok's licensing rights to its music catalog, the platform struggles to control uploads and reproductions of copyrighted material, highlighting the inherent tension between creative freedom and effective rights control in the age of social media, says Simon Goodbody at Bray & Krais.

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