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Bright ideas from inventors across Europe were recognised at the European Patent Office Inventor Awards 2016 recently. Teams from Germany, Denmark and France were among those recognised for their innovation, alongside a US winner in the Non-European countries category. Celebrating 10 years of Innovation The Awards, which began in 2006, recognise both individuals and teams of inventors whose work seeks to solve significant issues. An independent panel of judges representing science, academia, business and research examine each entry across a…
As you will be aware following a National referendum the UK has voted to leave the European Union. This will have a significant impact on UK business practices and legislation including intellectual property. Whilst change is inevitable in the longer term, for the time being it is business as usual for UK Plc. The UK will only cease to be a member of the EU once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is invoked and subsequent withdrawal negotiations are concluded. …
Applicants from the UK filed 12,527 European Union (EU) trade mark applications in 2015, making the UK the third biggest filer of trade marks with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), coming behind Germany (20,447 applications) and the USA (16,881). Applications Continue to Increase In total, 130,385 EU trade mark applications were filed in 2015 by applicants from around the world. The UK was responsible for 14% of the 89,420 applications filed with the EUIPO by applicants from the…
US Patent No. 821,393 was granted to the pioneering brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, 110 years ago; and disappeared after being loaned to the Smithsonian Museum by the US National Archives in 1980. Now, all these years later, it has been rediscovered in a limestone cave in Kansas. Original Patent Paperwork The paperwork shows that the Wright brothers were canny as well as inventive: the patent application was filed nine months before their ‘flying machine’ had even been successfully airborne.…
The General Court of the European Union has recently affirmed a decision by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), formerly known as the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), to refuse soft-drinks giant Coca-Cola’s application for a European Union trade mark registration for the three-dimensional shape of a bottle. The company applied for the trade mark in 2011, and it was first rejected in 2013. Bottle Lacks Distinctive Character The bottle shape submitted for trade mark protection…
A Supreme Court ruling against a company based in Bristol has prompted the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to update its guidance for designers. The case in question started in 2013 when Magmatic Limited (Magmatic), the company which produces the Trunki animal-styled ride-on suitcases for children, sued PMS International Group plc (PMS) for infringement of its European Community design registration. The English High Court initially found for Magmatic, but an appeal by PMS was upheld by the Court of Appeal. …