News & insights

Food and Drink

Drinking, dining & disruption: the revolutionaries in the Food & Drink industry

How do disrupters in the Food & Drink sector see things themselves and what do they think the future holds? We decided to speak to some of the sector’s most innovative and passionate founders to find...

Thoughts

Latest data! Update on new Enlarged Board of Appeal referral on the use of post-filed data

The EPO's Technical Board of Appeal's referral to the EBA has happened (G2/21), so one of the most controversially discussed issues at the EPO should soon be clarified.

Analysis

Do semiconductor patent strategies need to swing towards Europe?

As focus grows on the robustness of the semiconductor supply chain, Europe is looking towards increasing market share over the coming decade. For patent strategies, this likely means only one thing: s...

Analysis

Improving the enforceability of patents in the semiconductor sector

Generally, it is not possible simply to look at a semiconductor device and discern how it works – at least not with the naked eye. When considering patent protection for innovations in the sector, pra...

Food and Drink

Novel food and new technologies: are we ready for insect proteins in Europe?

For just the second time ever, an insect has reached the final authorising step as a novel food before the EU’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.

Food and Drink

5 challenges faced by the cultured meat industry

Cultured meat, or lab-based meat, is meat grown from animal cells in tissue culture. The food industry is looking to ever more technologically advanced solutions to feed the world.

Thoughts

Why am I black? My experiences growing up Afro-European in the UK

This article is about my experiences growing up in the UK. This is not a universal account but it is instead a deeply personal one.

Thoughts

Afro-texture: a hair-story

You could be forgiven for asking “Why is afro-textured hair any different to other types of hair?” On the surface, it is no different, and there is no doubt that it ought to be no different.

Food and Drink

Eating in a cashless, virtual world: how has the COVID-19 pandemic changed how we buy our food?

Answering the need for social distancing, an ever increasing number of grocery stores and restaurants adopt cashless technology to keep their customers safe in a COVID-19 world.

Thoughts

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 winners from a patent perspective

The winners of the 2021 Chemistry Nobel Prize were announced as Benjamin List and David MacMillan for their development of “a precise new tool for molecular construction: organocatalysis”.

Thoughts

Seven patent applications challenging the narrative for mental health; from VR therapy to “software as a drug”

This world mental health day we look at seven patent applications relating to technological advances in mental health, and the impact of our digital lives on our mental wellbeing.

Thoughts

Kilburn & Strode feature in Healthcare Markets International: protecting cannabis IP

Cannabis is touted as a wonder-drug by many. Its effects on the human body are numerous and these approved therapies are the tip of the iceberg, and more will surely follow.

Thoughts

Patenting healthcare inventions at the EPO

There are three EPO medical exclusions to patentability: methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body.

Thoughts

Patenting AI innovation in healthcare

AI and machine learning have embedded themselves as crucial tools in all fields of technology and healthcare is no exception.

Thoughts

Solving in-house counsel challenges in European IP: Transatlantic teamwork

We're delighted to have taken part in the IP East 2022: New Beginning’s Virtual Summit. The calibre of speakers and delegates was truly outstanding thanks to everyone who took part in the discussions.

Case law

Patenting AI-devised inventions: a look at the approach being taken in the UK and globally

Patent applications are routinely being denied around the world for inventions said to be devised by DABUS, an artificial intelligence (AI) “creativity machine” built by Dr. Stephen Thaler.

Thoughts

Changing the game: Tomorrow’s tech in the video game space (2021)

Happy National Video Games Day 2021! To celebrate, I am again combining my main areas of interest in life, patents and video games, to take a look at recent patent trends in video game technologies.

Thoughts

Later, data! Possible new Enlarged Board of Appeal referral on the use of post-filed data

When can data generated after the filing date of a patent (“post-filed data”) be used to support inventive step at the EPO? A possible new referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal may clarify this.

Thoughts

How to progress in your career and stay true to yourself

Even today, it is more difficult for a woman to reach a senior position in IP than it is for a man. While the IP industry seems to be going in the right direction, there are still issues and behaviour...

Thoughts

Voices of Pride: LGBTQ+ Allies

We don’t just celebrate diversity this month. It’s something our firm celebrates every minute of every day. We work our best inclusively, both with clients and with each other.

Thoughts

Considerations for formulation and combination patents in Europe

We consider patent applications to new drug formulations and combinations. Where a substance or composition is already known for a medical use, it may still be patentable for treating the same conditi...

Thoughts

Five ways to improve wellbeing

This week many firms have been observing Mental Health Awareness Week, engaging in activities and events designed to help us improve our wellbeing and reconnect through nature.

Thoughts

Patenting visual effects inventions in Europe

We take a look at some of the films that have been under the spotlight in the Visual Effects category for their innovative use of face replacement technology. Can these be patented in Europe?

Thoughts

Cannabis: A brief overview of US and European approaches

Cannabis laws and regulations in the US and Europe can be complicated. That’s why we’ve produced a handy comparison of key aspects regarding medical and recreational cannabis laws you should know.

Thoughts

If I could say one thing ...to male allies

Welcome to the third instalment of our series for international Women’s Day “If I could say one thing”. We will hear words of wisdom and advice from three leading women in Intellectual Property.

Thoughts

If I could say one thing ...to women working in a male-dominated environment

Welcome to the second instalment of our series for international Women’s Day “If I could say one thing”. We will hear words of wisdom and advice from three leading women in Intellectual Property.

Thoughts

From Titanic to the Internet of Things – the role of patents in communication technology

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought home how much we rely on communication technology. Innovations ranging from fibre broadband to 5G and from video calls to cloud file storage help people keep in touc...

Thoughts

If I could say one thing …to my younger self at the start of my career

Welcome to the first instalment of our series for international Women’s Day “If I could say one thing”. We will hear words of wisdom and advice from three leading women in Intellectual Property.

Thoughts

Me, myself & AI – an interview with Professor Ryan Abbott

Partner Alex Korenberg and Associate Tom Hamer sit down at the virtual table with Artificial Intelligence expert and author Professor Ryan Abbott.

Thoughts

Talk innovation podcast

Our Chair, Gwilym Roberts, moderated a podcast on oral proceedings by videoconference in the series produced by the EPO called ‘Talk innovation’.

Thoughts

How business is shaping IP

In this article, part of our series on the impact of COVID-19, we look at business trends and how they will affect IP rights.

Thoughts

What impact will Brexit have in the long term?

While the news in 2020 was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the year also saw the conclusion of the Brexit process. What will it mean for IP in the coming years?

Thoughts

The new social attitudes

The pandemic has changed the ways we work, shop and socialise. This will have knock-on effects for the management and protection of IP rights.

Thoughts

What will business as usual look like for IP in 2021?

In the first of a series of articles looking at trends for 2021, Kilburn & Strode attorneys discuss new ways of working arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thoughts

How the law will change in 2021

The changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have had an impact across society, and courts and IP offices are no exception.

Thoughts

What’s changing IP strategies?

New ways of working; budget pressures; and legal precedents: all these trends are likely to change IP strategies in 2021.

Thoughts

Cannabis Trade marks and commercialisation in the US, UK and EU.

The commercialisation of cannabis products is resulting in one of the fastest growing and unpredictable emerging markets globally.

Thoughts

A short primer on patenting AI and machine learning inventions at the European Patent Office

AI is booming. From banking to medical devices to self-driving vehicles, it's ubiquitous. But what can be patented in this area?

Thoughts

Cannabis: Patents in Europe

Patents are a powerful tool in Europe to protect inventions in the rapidly-growing field of cannabis-derived therapeutics.

Thoughts

World Diabetes Day - Why Innovation Matters for Type 1 Diabetes

I’m reminded of technology every day. This isn’t because I’m a patent attorney. It’s because it keeps me alive. As someone living with type 1 diabetes in 2020, I’m fortunate to have an insulin pump, ...

Thoughts

Marathon musings – patenting running watch algorithms in Europe

While many marathons (including Boston, New York and San Francisco) went completely virtual this year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the delayed London Marathon was one of a small number to go ah...

Thoughts

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 Winners from a Patent Perspective

Further to my recent article about the 2020 Nobel Prize announcements, the winners of the 2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize were announced as Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna on 7 October 2020 "for...

Thoughts

Nobel Prize 2020: A Chemistry Patent Attorney’s View

The Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Peace were first awarded in 1901 after being established in the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. As patent attorneys, it’s easy to get ...

Thoughts

I’m an academic, get me out of patents: strategies for promoting patenting among academics and researchers

Academics are a curious bunch. They range from the head in the clouds, eccentric clichés to the business savvy company executives, and yet, they have one thing in common: the public trusts them to tel...

Thoughts

Prior Use ''Pitfalls'' in EPO Oppositions

This practical update takes a look at how best to use public prior use in an EPO opposition and the potential pitfalls to avoid. A public prior use attack in opposition may seem like a sure thing, b...

Thoughts

How to lose priority in 3 ways

“Priority”. A word that can strike fear into even the most seasoned of IP attorneys. While on the face of it, the law concerning priority at the EPO can seem fairly straightforward, there are a few ...

Thoughts

Take away the office and what happens?

For many years, many professional services organisations were afraid of allowing people to work at home. As an HR person I heard that all the time.

Thoughts

Post-Pandemic Innovation – Part 3

An examination of innovation and patenting in previous crises has identified some consistent trends and here we look at whether we can extrapolate these to the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, b...

Thoughts

Wellbeing - Adding health to the trademark practice agenda

Whether working in the corporate or law firm environment, trademark practice leaders should ensure that they have a considered wellbeing strategy in place

Thoughts

Essential guidance on patenting software-based inventions at the EPO - Part 2

Following on from our analysis of T 697/17 and the guidance to consider when drafting a new software related application, we analyse recent decision T 1749/14 and outline what steps you should take to...

Thoughts

Innovation from crisis - Part 2

We have seen that patenting activity naturally levels during crises which affect subsistence or economy, though against a background of robust long-term growth.

Thoughts

Destined for perpetual refusal, or verging on a new everlasting movement?

Industrial applicability, alongside novelty and inventive step, is one of the conditions an invention must meet in order to be considered patentable at the EPO and the UK IPO .

Thoughts

Why it is now easier to patent high-purity chemicals at the EPO, and how to do it

Making the initial discovery of a new and potentially useful compound is just the first stage in a long road to market for a new commercial product.

Covid-19

Second medical uses at the EPO

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of investigating the use of known medications for the treatment of new diseases.

Thoughts

Essential guidance on patenting software-based inventions at the EPO

A recent Board of Appeal decision at the European Patent Office has reaffirmed a key practice point in the drafting of software-based patent applications for Europe: make the technical considerations ...

Thoughts

Crisis and Innovation - Part 1

In this time of extraordinary change and uncertainty, reaction has been rapid, well-meaning and often effective at the individual, enterprise and nationwide level.

Thoughts

AI Diagnostics & Digital Healthcare

The human brain is a biological marvel with an enormous amount of raw processing power.

Thoughts

Gender inequality — How many patent offices does it take to fix a leaky pipeline?

The fact that gender imbalance still permeates our society is acutely reflected in inventorship figures: only 12.7% of inventors named on patent applications are female.

Thoughts

AI and drug discovery

Once upon a time, drug discovery was limited by the imagination of the scientists involved. But Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) is pushing the old boundaries of drug discovery in ...

Thoughts

Are you building a culture of innovation?

Creating a culture of innovation, being open to change and opportunity, and capitalising on new ideas can all act as catalysts for that change to happen. The groundwork needs to be laid and those who ...

Thoughts

Capturing innovation: A snapshot of the magic mix

In our article Innovation Capture 101, we show how mastering the basics of invention capture can help organisations achieve competitive advantage and long-term business success. The practical tips dis...

Thoughts

Innovation Capture 101

How knowing the basics of innovation capture can lead to competitive advantage and long-term business success.

Thoughts

Mastering the business of patents

How understanding the stable EPO approach to patent eligibility for business method and software inventions could improve your success rates in Europe, the US and beyond

Thoughts

Changing the game: Tomorrow’s tech in the video game space (2019)

It’s National Video Game Day! To celebrate, we’re exploring innovation in this exciting area by taking a look at patent trends in video game technologies at the European Patent Office (EPO).

Thoughts

Standing proud

Voices from across industry speak openly about inspiration, impact, and the essence of Pride.

Thoughts

Making an impact: Treatments for HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)

Recent advances have led to enormous progress in preventing transmission of HIV. We’re looking at the history of the virus, the impact of recent developments on the LGBTQ+ community and some of the in...

Thoughts

Product launch and risk – the role of patent landscaping

We are often asked to carry out a “Landscaping” exercise for clients and the first thing that we always do is to check exactly what is required. The term is used for a whole range of different approac...

Thoughts

Gender disparity in innovation

Associate Emily Collins from our Technology team has published an article in IP Magazine titled “Gender disparity in innovation”.

Thoughts

The era of IP Practice 3.0

We’re all beginning to see the impact of artificial intelligence tools across aspects of work, leisure and travel. The focus of the third and final article in our series on AI and IP is therefore: how...

Thoughts

Using prosecution history in UK infringement proceedings

In the UK, prosecution history has rarely been considered during infringement proceedings. Lord Hoffman famously stated in Kirin v Amgen (2005) that “life was too short” to assess the prosecution hist...

Thoughts

Femtech: The next big market disruptor is here, and it’s fearlessly female

Femtech, or Female Technology, is the merging of modern technology and women’s health to address age-old issues. The market is booming, and it’s long overdue. Here we look at the recent market growth...

Thoughts

An act of balance: Voices of leading female trailblazers

This year, International Women´s Day runs under the themes #BalanceforBetter. How is it possible that in this day and age, we still don’t live in a world of gender balance and equal rights?

Gamechangers 2019

Inventions, Innovators and IP

In the last few years technology has evolved to a new level, and society needs to take a breather to make sure it’s happy with what’s coming next.

Gamechangers 2019

Plastic waste: cost or opportunity?

Against a backdrop of over 300 million tonnes of worldwide plastic production annually, with some plastics taking 400 years or more to break down, the planet is facing a significant crisis of plastic ...

Gamechangers 2019

5G – It’s about time (delays)

For many years, efforts have been made to collaboratively improve and harmonise the technical standards that underpin global telecommunication networks, such as 3G and 4G.

Gamechangers 2019

Robots on the rise

A tale as old as time is our obsession with machines. Based on the notion that our bodies are essentially (complex) machines, scientists and engineers have been trying to overcome the limits of our bo...

Gamechangers 2019

Protecting the protector: The intersection of IP and Immuno-Oncology

Immunotherapy uses the body’s natural immune system to fight cancer, rather than direct killing of cancer cells with chemo/radiation therapy, which can lead to undesirable reduced immunity and may not...

Brexit

Brexit: what does 2019 hold for trade marks?

The UK is set to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019. However, there remains much uncertainty over how, when and even if the United Kingdom will exit the European Union (“Brexit”).

Thoughts

Patents versus prizes: A Nobel case study

Is the patent system the best way to incentivise innovation? This has been a longstanding question in scientific and technological spheres. Patents enable companies and institutes to see a return on t...

Thoughts

AI’s threat to trade mark rights

The internet is the world’s marketplace, storefront, and trading floor, with businesses and brands vying for attention. While the machines are still learning, they are already influencing consumer hab...

Thoughts

Ingenious machines: Inventive Step and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

It is a requirement of most, if not all, patent systems that an invention should be non-obvious over the state of the art in order to warrant patent protection.

Thoughts

The EPO and computer-implemented inventions: an appeal for more?

Since 2015 we have seen a series of extensive updates to the computer-implemented invention (CII) sections of the European Patent Office’s Guidelines for Examination, the practice guide for EPO examin...

Thoughts

EPO Draft Guidelines on patenting AI published – level playing field? Asks Alexander Korenberg

Following a recent announcement by the EPO, a preview of the next version of the Guidelines for Examination is now online. One of the changes highlighted was a section on the patentability of AI and M...

Thoughts

AI Meets IP: The patent challenge

This, the first of a series of articles looking at AI and IP, focuses on using patents and other IP rights to protect AI-related inventions and machine learning.

Thoughts

Don't treat a subject; treat a disease

How closely must the language of a subsequent medical use claim match the language approved by the European Patent Office (EPO)?

Thoughts

Computer says no - AI given powers in Australian draft IP legislation

We were very intrigued recently when our friend at the UKIPO, James Porter, alerted us to an interesting part of some draft legislation in Australia.

Thoughts

LexisNexis - Trade Mark Directive 2015 - next steps towards implementation

Carrollanne Lindley, partner and head of the trade marks group spoke to LexisNexis about the government’s proposed amendments to the Trade Marks Act 1994 in order to implement the new EU Trade Mark Di...

Brexit

A glass half-full: a chance to improve SPCs post-Brexit?

The United Kingdom (UK) government is currently pursuing its stated policy of leaving the European Union (EU). Negotiations between the remaining 27 EU member states (the EU-27) and the UK are ongoing...

Thoughts

Why LGBTQAI+ pride is important

Partner Tom Leonard muses on the history of LGBTQAI+ Pride and why it is as important as ever.

Thoughts

Inventions that made the modern running shoe

With the London Marathon just around the corner, Gregory St Clair Jones and Nico Cousens take a look at some of the many inventions that have shaped the modern running shoe we know today.

Thoughts

Updated LexisNexis Practice Note - 'Managing a trade mark portfolio’

Carrollanne Lindley and Lorraine Lowell Neale from our highly regarded trade marks team have worked with LexisNexis to update the Practice Note titled ‘Managing a trade mark portfolio’.

Thoughts

How likely is Little Miss Inventor to be awarded a patent?

A new member will be joining the Mr Men and Little Miss series, and we couldn’t be happier with Adam Hargreaves’ choice of character.

Thoughts

Strut of the drones: fireworks to fashion

Over the last few weeks drones have been swarming our headlines.

Thoughts

Should we bother with experts?

Victoria Barker looks at how the EPO handles submissions from technical experts, and what contribution having a technical expert on your side really makes.

Thoughts

The latest CJEU referrals relating to SPCs Article 3(a) still not clear?

The last few months have brought us two new CJEU referrals for disputes relating to SPCs – Decision 14 W (pat) 12/17 of the Bundespatentgericht (the “sitagliptin” reference) and Sandoz Limited & Hexal...

Thoughts

The case for UK litigation: Quality v Cost

Litigating is expensive. Naturally, therefore, determining a strategy for whether and where to enforce patent rights can provoke tough decisions. A recent report by the UK IPO, burnishes the UK’s repu...

Thoughts

EPO Decision G 1/16 - A victory for common-sense?

At the highest level of the EPO, the Enlarged Board of Appeal continues to deliver EPO binding decisions on technical and legal issues. For those of you interested in the ever relevant matter of discl...

Thoughts

5 ways to cut through the red tape at the European Patent Office

Sometimes you want to speed things up, sometimes you want to slow things down. Sometimes you want to reduce the official paper trail while putting yourself in a better position to obtain the scope tha...

Thoughts

Patenting the Machine – why there’s hope at the EPO for the future of AI-related inventions

Reconsideration of the application of the software patentability exclusion would seem to be a very important step if we are to encourage innovators in the field of developing better AI engines.

Thoughts

IP Rights: Where Does the Internet Stop?

Gwilym Roberts gives his view of the recent Canadian case which raises a wide range of jurisdictional issues for IP and tech lawyers. IP is proving to be a valuable test-bed for resolving the rising t...

Thoughts

Allergan's patent shield – The (Native) American dream?

In an unprecedented move, leading global pharmaceutical company Allergan appears to have handed six of its US patents covering its blockbuster dry eye drug to aNative American Tribe in Northern New Yo...

Thoughts

FRAND with benefits

Chairman, Gwilym Roberts welcomes a patents ruling getting commercial issues in line with public policy. In the recent Unwired Planet v Huawei decision, renowned High Court judge Sir Colin Birss stepp...

Thoughts

Actavis v Eli Lilly - what patent attorneys and examiners need to know

This infringement case is the UK's, and perhaps, Europe's biggest in 12 years. We thought about what attorneys and examiners need to learn from this - and how it could impact how to draft, get and gra...

Thoughts

A bump in the road, a fork in the path or a nail in the coffin? What exactly is happening with the UPC?

The prospects of an early start to the UPC/UP package have already disappeared into the distance. While on some fronts progress is being made, on others new challenges arise. A shifting landscape mean...

Thoughts

Dispute resolution a matter of opinion

The UK IPO opinions service is in practice proving to be a very cost-effective and fast alternative to 'flight or fight' in patent disputes, however the ramifications that the patent in question will ...

Thoughts

Blockchain Buzz

Partner, Gareth Fennell, shares his thoughts on the blockchain buzz and what innovators should be doing about it now and when to seek advice.

Thoughts

The European Patent Office – steps forward, steps back?

The IP world has been hearing about a fairly chaotic time at the European Patent Office and it is sometimes difficult to assess whether the overall mood is one of improvement or regression.

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