Archive - January 2018

Following the UK IPO’s consultation[1] on patent fees, the UK IPO has decided to go ahead with a number of changes[2] to the fees for applying for patent protection and renewing granted patents. These changes include both increases to current fees, and the introduction of new fees. These changes will come into effect on 6 […]

This week saw the first decision from the EPO Opposition Division related to the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology.  The patent in question, EP2771468, which was granted to the Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard University was revoked after the filing of nine oppositions. The PCT application from which EP2771468 derived was filed naming Broad, MIT and […]

On 11 January, Latvia ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), bringing the total number of ratifications to fifteen. As it stands, applicants will be able to protect their inventions in at least 17 countries (the existing 14 plus UK and Germany) with a single Unitary Patent (UP) when the system is implemented. […]

The Russian Federation has ratified the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. Russia can be designated in new Hague design filings from 28 February 2018. The Hague Agreement enables applicants to seek protection of registered designs/design patents in 67 territories (that includes all European Union member states, USA, South Korea and Japan) […]