Insights

Patents, trademarks, designs and other forms of intellectual property (IP) play a key role in the success of all modern businesses.

From 1 November 2023, recipients of EPO communications will no longer be able to benefit from the additional 10-day response period (known as the EPO "10-day rule”). Clémence de Masfrand outlines the implications. 

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate images, text, video and music is causing quite a stir in the creative and legal world. Valerie Annan provides an overview of recent generative AI and copyright disputes and asks what might happen next. 

The first successful application under the UK Geographical Indication (GI) scheme has recently been granted to Welsh Whisky. Protection for this product has been brought about by the surge in its popularity and the expansion of the industry in recent years.

Intellectual property (IP) can be complicated, so it’s little wonder that it’s not well understood by the public at large. Take our quiz to see if you can identify which of these commonly held beliefs about trademark protection, registration and branding are true.

Since the launch of the UPC system on 1 June 2023, holders of European patents and European patents with unitary effect (‘unitary patents’) have been able to bring actions against third parties in a single legal procedure. 

As of 1 June 2023, organisations can benefit from the new unitary patent and Unified Patent Court system in Europe. We set out the answers to some frequently asked questions about this new European patent right in our updated white paper 'The Unitary Patent: A practical guide'.

Since 1 June 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has replaced national courts as the court of jurisdiction for infringement and invalidity actions relating to unitary patents and European patents that have not been opted out from the new court system.

More than 18 months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war continues to ravage the region. Marion Mercadier considers the situation from a trademark law perspective by examining related trademark refusals and registrations.