Case Reports

Ocado permitted to make committal application against solicitor for contempt of court

Ocado Group PLC & Anr v Raymond John McKeeve [2021] EWCA Civ 145Court of Appeal overturns first instance judge and allows application to commit solicitor for contempt of courtThis is an appeal...

Court of Appeal adopts narrow interpretation of Crown use defence in IPCom v Vodafone

IPCom GmbH v Vodafone Group plc & Ors [2021] EWCA Civ 205This case involves a dispute between IPCom, an intellectual property licensing company, and Vodafone, the well-known telecommunications...

HHJ Hacon decides ownership of Virtual Forensic Computing software created during course of employment.

Penhallurick v MD5 Limited [2021] EWHC 93 (IPEC) 15 February 2021This case demonstrates the importance of understanding how work undertaken for an employer shapes copyright ownership and, ironically,...

EIP Trademark team recognised by WTR 1000 2021

EIP has been highlighted as one of the world’s leading trademark specialists in the 2021 edition of WTR 1000.Researchers for WTR 1000, published annually by World Trademark Review, references EIP’s...

Bringing sufficiency within range: Birss J recasts the Regeneron principles for process claims

Illumina Cambridge Limited v Latvia MGI Tech SIA & Ors[2021] EWHC 57 (Pat)The case centres on Illumina's contention that MGI's DNA sequencing systems infringe their patents.

Success for EIP litigation team and client Optis against Apple

Last Friday, 16October 2020, judgment was handed down by Mr Justice Birss in the High Court, London, in the first of four technical trials listed in EIP client Optis’ UK patent litigation and...

Chambers UK 2021 recognises EIP’s expertise

EIP has been highly rated in the 2021 edition of Chambers & Partners UK.Researchers highlighted EIP for its “excellent patent prosecution and oppositions practice” and its “highly capable trademark...

Five EIP associates recognised as UK’s up-and-coming IP practitioners in MIP Rising Stars

Litigation solicitors Tom Brazier and Catherine Howell along with patent attorneys Robert Barker, Tim Belcher, and Felix Hall have all been ranked as “Rising Stars” in the 2020 edition of IP Stars...

EPO Enlarged Board considers products obtained by essentially biological processes unpatentable – U turn to avoid EPC amendment?

The Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office has now provided its opinion in G3/19 abandoning the interpretation of Article 53 (b) EPC given in previous decision G2/12.

Medical use claims are increasingly vulnerable to Lack of Sufficiency attacks at the EPO - a recent decision gives some hints

Article 83 EPC (Sufficiency) requires a European patent to disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

UKIPO report of IP trends for UK Higher Education Institutions highlights life sciences innovation

On 29 April 2020, the UKIPO published an overview report of IP trends for UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and their spin-out businesses, between 1999 and 2018.

How video hearings have kept the Courts open

The COVID-19 outbreak is impacting people around the globe.The UK government has, like many other governments, been forced to take drastic action to curtail individuals’ movements to enforce social...

Fabric textures can be “artistic work”: Response Clothing v Edinburgh Woollen Mill

Copyright can subsist in a fabric pattern after HHJ Hacon ruled that such designs constitute a work of artistic craftmanship.In Response Clothing Ltd v Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ltd [2020] EWHC 148...

Brexit and IP: Business as usual during the transition period

The UK leaves the EU on 31 January 2020 – but until at least the end of 2020 it will be business as usual for intellectual property rights.The Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK was...

Brexit and Intellectual Property – An Update

The European Union has announced that it will agree to the UK request for a further extension to the period in which the UK remains a full member of the EU (the “Article 50 period”) until 31 January...