Business to Business Collaboration Agreements – NIPC Law

Posted August 6th, 2018 in agreements, intellectual property, news by sally

‘According to the Intellectual Property Office’s Facts and Figures for 2016 and 2017, 24 out of the 38 inter partes disputes that came before the Office’s tribunals arose from disputes over ownership of inventions. This can be an expensive and time consuming process as I explained in Disputes over Ownership of Inventions 6 Aug 2015 NIPC Southeast. Disputes over ownership of other intellectual property (“IP”) rights result in infringement actions like MEI Fields Designs Ltd v Saffron Cards and Gifts Ltd and another [2018] EWHC 1332 (IPEC) (6 June 2018).’

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NIPC Law, 4th August 2018

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.com

Brexit: trade marks and designs – 10 things to know – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 12th, 2018 in agreements, brexit, EC law, intellectual property, news, trade marks, treaties by sally

‘While Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU are ongoing, the UK government and European Commission have found an agreement in principle that will alleviate many right holders’ concerns in respect of trade marks and designs.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 11th July 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Rights holders face extra burdens under new WHOIS data plan – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 10th, 2018 in data protection, domain names, EC law, intellectual property, internet, news by sally

‘Businesses are likely to encounter additional barriers when seeking to enforce their intellectual property (IP) rights under any new plans that are drawn up for accessing ‘WHOIS’ data.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 10th July 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Website blocking order costs not for ISPs to meet, rules UK court – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 14th, 2018 in appeals, costs, intellectual property, internet, news, Supreme Court by tracey

‘Internet service providers (ISPs) will not generally be responsible for picking up the costs of implementing court orders to block customers’ access to websites that infringe intellectual property (IP) rights, according to the UK’s highest court.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 13th June 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

New UK trade secrets laws imminent – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 17th, 2018 in consultations, EC law, intellectual property, legislation, news, regulations by tracey

‘New trade secrets laws are scheduled to be published by the UK government before the end of this month.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 16th May 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Bank wins ruling against ‘cybersquatter’ who demanded £100,000 for domain name – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 3rd, 2018 in banking, domain names, intellectual property, news by sally

‘A bank has won a legal battle against a China-based ‘cybersquatter’, who attempted to extort almost £100,000 from the business by buying a domain name they wanted.’

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd April 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Who is it that doesn’t like Mondays? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 19th, 2018 in artistic works, copyright, expert witnesses, intellectual property, news by sally

‘Music nerds may remember with fondness the great copyright wrangle involving Procol Harum and Bach. The focus of that dispute was the organ line in the 1967 hit Whiter Shade of Pale, and Blackburne J’s judgment is imperative reading for anyone interested in the law’s dominion over music, ideas or intellectual property in general. Go to the end of this post for a reminder of that entertaining litigation and its outcome.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 18th March 2018

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Obviousness – Hospira v Cubist Appeal – NIPC Law

Posted January 25th, 2018 in appeals, intellectual property, medicines, news, patents by tracey

‘Daptomycin is an antibiotic used to treat systemic and life-threatening infections caused by multiple drug resistant bacteria. Its effectiveness depends on its purity. The invention for which the patent in suit was granted was a way of purifying the antibiotic. In Hospira UK Ltd v Cubist Pharmaceuticals LLC [2016] EWHC 1285 (Pat) (10 June 2016), Hospira UK Ltd, (a British subsidiary of Pfizer) sought the revocation of that patent. Mr Justice Henry Carr found that the patent was invalid and ordered its revocation. Cubist Pharmaceuticals LLC (a subsidiary of Merck & Co.) appealed against that judgment and order in Hospira UK Ltd v Cubist Pharmaceuticals LLC [2018] EWCA Civ 12 (18 Jan 2018).’

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NIPC Law, 24th January 2018

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Damages for Passing off – The National Guild of Removers & Storers Ltd. v Central Moves – NIPC Law

Posted January 8th, 2018 in appeals, damages, intellectual property, misrepresentation, news, trade unions by sally

‘This was an appeal by the National Guild of Removers & Storers (“NGRS”) against an award of £1,275 damages in its favour by District Judge Vary for passing off. By dismissing that appeal, His Honour Judge Hacon seems to have settled a 7 year controversy as to what should be the correct measure of damages for what is often an inadvertent misrepresentation of continued membership of the NGRS by a removal or storage business that no longer wishes to remain a member of that guild.’

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NIPC Law, 7th January 2018

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Scomadi v R A Engineering and Others – A Licence Agreement that went wrong – NIPC Law

Posted November 21st, 2017 in agreements, intellectual property, licensing, news by sally

‘On 19 Sept 2017, I chaired seminars in the studios of Northern Ballet in Leeds and at the Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre in South Yorkshire at which Tom Duke, our intellectual property attaché in Beijing, spoke on “Succeeding in China – How to mitigate IP risk” as part of a China IP Roadshow (see Jane Lambert Meet our IP Attaché to China 21 July 2017 IP Yorkshire). One of the reasons why Tom made that tour is that an increasing number of British IP owners contract with manufacturers in China and other countries where production costs are lower than in the UK to make goods for them under licence. Often such arrangements work very well but sometimes they can go very badly wrong.’

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NIPC Law, 21st November 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Opera singer and film writer ex-boyfriend in High Court battle over who wrote the script to a Hollywood blockbuster – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 17th, 2017 in artistic works, intellectual property, media, news by tracey

‘An opera singer is locked in a High Court battle with her film writer former boyfriend over who wrote the script to a Hollywood blockbuster.’

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Daily Telegraph, 17th October 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Construction of Terms in Cross-Licensing Agreements: Koninklijke Philips N.V. v Asustek Computer Incorporation and Others – NIPC Law

‘In FRAND 8 Oct 2017 I discussed the terms upon which patents for inventions that are essential to a standard are licensed. I noted that courts around the world had held that those terms should be fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory – in other words, FRAND. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Koninklijke Philips N.V. v Asustek Computer Incorporation and Others [2017] EWCA Civ 1526 (11 Oct 2017) concerned the construction of a clause licensing such patents. It is important to note, however, that none of the judges who heard the appeal mentioned the acronym, FRAND, and it appeared only twice in the judgment of the trial judge.’

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NIPC Law, 13th October 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Screening for protection in healthtech services – Technomed v Bluecrest – Technology Law Update

Posted October 12th, 2017 in copyright, database right, health, intellectual property, news by sally

‘A recent court decision on infringement of IP in an ECG screening service shows how components of the service qualify for different forms of protection. Reliance on less obvious IP rights can offer valuable cover for a business’s assets even in the absence of patent protection.’

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Technology Law Update, 11th September 2017

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

UK government considers classifying Google and Facebook as publishers – The Guardian

Posted October 12th, 2017 in freedom of expression, intellectual property, internet, media, news, publishing by sally

‘Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, has said the government is considering changing the legal status of Google, Facebook and other internet companies amid growing concerns about copyright infringement and the spread of extremist material online.’

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The Guardian, 11th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

IP ‘threats’ law enters into force – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 3rd, 2017 in bills, intellectual property, news, trade marks by sally

‘A law that could help intellectual property owners assert their rights more freely came into force yesterday. The Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017 curtails a legal remedy available to a party threatened with IP infringement.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 2nd October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Pre-Action Correspondence: What to do if you get a Stroppy Letter ……. or worse – NIPC Law

‘On Wednesday I stressed the importance of pre-action correspondence and how the drafting of a letter before claim can make all the difference between getting what you want quickly and cheaply through focused negotiation and precipitating an expensive and possibly protracted law suit in Pre-Action Correspondence – Not Just a Box to be ticked or a Hoop to be jumped through 2 Aug 2017. Today, I shall tell you what to do if you receive a letter accusing you of infringing a patent or some other intellectual property right.’

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NIPC Law, 4th August 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Pre-Action Correspondence – Not Just a Box to be ticked or a Hoop to be jumped through – NIPC Law

Posted August 4th, 2017 in intellectual property, news, practice directions, pre-action conduct by sally

‘Until the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) came into force in 1999 solicitors specializing in intellectual property law heralded litigation with an ultimatum called a letter before action. Written in haughty if not insulting terms and accompanied by a humiliating form of undertakings, they were intended to shock the recipient into submission. They rarely achieved the desired result. As often as not they were simply ignored. Occasionally, they were answered by a defiant response. As a result, a lot of actions were launched that could easily have been settled without recourse to litigation.’

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NIPC Law, 2nd August 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Judge rejects bid to move case out of IPEC because of claimant’s need for costs protection – Litigation Futures

Posted June 29th, 2017 in costs, courts, intellectual property, news, small businesses, trials by sally

‘A defendant’s bid to transfer a case from the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) to the High Court has been dismissed because of the costs risk the SME claimant would then face.’

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Litigation Futures, 28th June 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Music and Entertainment Law: Music Contracts – Editions Musicales Alpha S.A.R.L. v Universal Music Publishing Ltd and Others – NIPC Law

Posted June 29th, 2017 in artistic works, contracts, copyright, intellectual property, news by sally

‘This case, which came before His Honour Judge Hacon on 23 Feb 2017, shows how copyright comes into being, how it is assigned and how much care should be taken when drawing up agreements for its assignment, particularly when settling disputes over ownership.’

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NIPC Law, 28th June 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Specialised court encourages boom in IP cases – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Small and medium-sized enterprises are continuing to use the UK’s specialised intellectual property court despite having more options available for flexible trials, figures have shown.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 23rd May 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk