UPC – Case Load – Update Since its inception in June 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has been actively engaged in handling a variety of cases, showcasing a significant workload that underscores its importance in the field of intellectual property law. The latest update shows that the UPC has...
EPO – Acceleration of Oppositions
The European Patent Office (EPO) announced on 7 November 2023 a new policy concerning accelerated processing of oppositions where an infringement or revocation action has been instituted before the Unified Patent Court or a national court or competent authority of a contracting state. This is a change to the current...
Irish Referendum to join Unified Patent Court
The Irish government approved on January 23rd a proposal to hold a constitutional referendum in June on Ireland’s participation in the Unified Patent Court. The referendum will be held alongside the European and local elections in the country. The Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), providing for the setting...
Merger of Staudt IP and Sonnenberg Harrison Partnerschaft
The IP boutique firms of Staudt IP from Ingolstadt and Sonnenberg Harrison from Munich are delighted to announce their merger with effect from 1 January 2024. This strategic alliance combines Peter Staudt's expertise in intellectual property with Sonnenberg Harrison's extensive expertise in technology, trademark, and patent law. Peter Staudt, founder...
Fusion von Staudt IP Law und Sonnenberg Harrison Partnerschaft
Mit großer Freude geben die Kanzleien Staudt IP Law aus Ingolstadt und Sonnenberg Harrison aus München ihre bevorstehende Fusion bekannt. Dieser strategische Zusammenschluss vereint die Kompetenzen von Peter Staudt im Bereich des geistigen Eigentums mit der umfassenden Expertise von Sonnenberg Harrison im Technologie-, Marken- und Patentrecht. Herr Peter Staudt, Gründer...
AI Machine as an Inventor
The UK Supreme Court has decided that an artificial intelligence machine cannot be considered to be an inventor in British patent law. The case "Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents Designs and Trade Marks" involved an appeal regarding two patent applications filed by Dr. Stephen Thaler under the UK Patents Act...
Staying Proceedings at the Unitary Patent Court
Under what conditions can the Unified Patent Court (UPC) stay a decision when opposition proceedings are pending in the European Patent Office (EPO)? That question faced the Central Division (Munich) of the European UPC in Astellas ./. Healios (Case No. UPC_CFI_80/2023). Under Article 33(10) UPCA and Rule 295 sub a...
Patenting an Artificial Neural Network in the UK
The UK High Court recently issued a significant judgement on the application for a patent directed to an artificial intelligence network and overturned the UK IPO’s rejection of the patent application. The court disapproved the argument that the recommendation system, controlled by a trained artificial neural network (ANN), was excluded...
Assessing computer-implemented inventions – the British Approach
The UK Patents Act has the same exclusions on patentability as the European Patent Convention, but the case law over the years has diverged slightly in its approach to assessing whether an application is excluded from protection. The main case now referred to is the Aerotel case (Aerotel Ltd v...
Searching and Classifying Quantum Patents
Quantum technologies are a rapidly developing field of science and engineering that exploits the properties of quantum physics to perform tasks that would be impossible or impractical with classical physics. Quantum technologies include quantum simulation, quantum sensing and metrology, quantum computation, and quantum communication. However, quantum technologies also pose significant...