News

The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced increases in its renewal fees from 1 April 2016. The fees will increase by approximately 1%. For example, the 6th year renewal will increase from €1040 to €1050. Meanwhile, the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) has also announced changes in renewal fees effective from 1 April 2016, a reduction […]

The UPC Preparatory Committee has today announced the finalised court fees, including some notable changes. Now that much of the procedure for opting out of the UPC has been finalised, the committee has recognised that the administrative burden involved in processing a request to opt out would not be as complex as first anticipated.  As […]

The UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced that a referendum will be held on 23 June 2016 to decide whether the UK will remain a member of the European Union. It is widely expected that the UK will vote to remain in the EU, but we are happy to confirm that, regardless of the […]

The European Council has published news of impending changes to the Community Trade Mark Regulation and a new Trade Mark Directive, most of which will come into effect in March 2016. The changes do away with some of the idiosyncrasies which have made European trade mark law less accessible to the non-professional public. Most saliently, […]

Unitary Patent (UP) The UP draws ever closer, and recent events suggest early 2017 is the hot favourite for commencement. If you haven’t considered the ramifications of the UP for your business yet, now is the time to start. The Select Committee, who set the rules and fees for the UP, recently announced that their […]

It has been common drafting practice to include both pre-EPC 2000 Swiss-type claims and post-EPC 2000 purpose-limited second medical use claims in the same patent application.  Once again, whether this is allowable or not, has been considered by the EPO Boards of Appeal. At the start of last year we reported to you that the […]