Intellectual property rights are – by definition – monopolistic. How, then, can researchers, charities and NGOs collaborate with business in the development of new technologies to control and eradicate COVID-19? The Pledge The Open COVID Pledge[1] is intended to encourage business and academia to pledge to make their intellectual property (IP) available free of charge for … Continue Reading
Readers of this blog may well be familiar with the regional exhaustion rule which applies to IP rights in the EU, including (for the time being) the UK. Under this rule, IP rights can be exhausted where they are put on the market with the consent of the proprietor in one part of the EU, … Continue Reading
Just over a week ago, the population of the UK voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. This was something of a shock, particularly for those of us in the legal profession who get to appreciate the effects that EU harmonisation of law can bring for our clients. The result is starting to … Continue Reading
At the start of 2016 we highlighted the impending changes to IP law in the European Union (EU) and what to expect over the coming months when the new legislation is introduced. This article focuses on two of the amendments governing the use of a European Union trade mark (EUTM) and how the new laws … Continue Reading
Here’s a quick “heads up” of what I see as the key reforms of IP laws in the pipeline at the European Union (EU) level that are likely to affect EU regional registrations of IP, as well as the national laws of each and every EU Member State. You will no doubt be reading more … Continue Reading
The UK has for a long time had laws in place that make it illegal for IP owners to make “unjustified threats” to bring proceedings for infringement of registered IP rights. In recent years, this prohibition has been narrowed to exclude threats made in respect of primary infringement (i.e. manufacturing, importing or supplying services), but … Continue Reading
Introduction The world has “internationalised” at an astonishing rate in the last 20 to 30 years. People are better travelled and are familiar with overseas hotels, restaurants and media. And it is the same with consumer brands: in the UK we are as familiar with Hershey’s chocolate from the US and Vegemite spread from Australia … Continue Reading
IP owners continue to get punishment dished out to them, and not on a consensual basis. A recent decision of the UK’s Court of Appeal has reviewed the rules that dictate when parallel (or “grey”) market product can be rebranded to match the brand used by the market leader in the national market concerned. The … Continue Reading
