Archive - September 2016

The Patent Box scheme was introduced by the UK Government in April 2013 to allow UK companies to pay less Corporation Tax on profits generated from the sale of patented products and from the use of patented processes and machinery. Shortly after its introduction, the scheme faced criticism from foreign governments.  This led to a […]

What is changing? The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) is introducing a package of changes to the Patents Rules. The Patents Rules 2007, together with the Patents Act 1977, govern the patent system in the UK. The Rules set out the procedural and administrative requirements which apply to patents and patent applications. None of […]

The UK’s Patent Box regime came into force on 1 April 2013, through which companies are able to pay a reduced rate of UK Corporation Tax on profits derived from patented technology. More than three years after its introduction, HM Revenue & Customs have, for the first time, published a report on the uptake of […]

The legal position, that it is possible for the UK to remain in the UPC and UP has already been widely supported as reported here. This view already included support from CIPA (the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys) and now has further heavyweight backing from a newly published Counsel’s opinion. CIPA, the IP Federation and […]

The Netherlands recently became the eleventh country to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. This marks a key point in the implementation of the UPC, as now only the mandatory ratification by Germany and the UK is necessary to bring the UPC Agreement into force. Prior to the recent EU Referendum, the UK was expected […]

From 1 October 2016 the UK IPO fee structure for registering designs in the UK will change. For many years applicants have had the option of filing one or several designs within a single application but the cost of filing lots of designs to protect various aspects of a product has been prohibitive for many, […]

Withers & Rogers former Chairman Karl Barnfather was delighted to moderate the opening panel session, on the Implications of Brexit and the UPC, to the MIP European Patent Reform Forum in Munich on Tuesday 6 September 2016.   On the panel was Margot Fröhlinger of the European Patent Office and Professor Tilmann of the University of […]