Beyond trade marks, protectable intellectual property (IP) is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when one has developed a new food or beverage product.  Why is this the case, especially when so many other industries have readily adopted and employed IP protection to their commercial advantage?

There are four principal types of intellectual property rights: patents, trade marks, registered designs, and copyright: 

1. Patents provide protection for food/beverage products, manufacturing processes/recipes, machinery, packaging, nutraceutical uses, etc. 
2. Registered designs provide protection for aesthetic (non-technical) aspects of products, e.g. packaging or aesthetically-pleasing food products. 
3. Trade marks identify a product as being from a particular company.
4. Copyright comes into existence automatically and, as its name suggests, protects against copying of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works.

Why should I protect my intellectual property?

• Financial: IP rights add value to your business, are considered assets, and can be licensed out to generate revenue.
• Corporation tax relief: the Patent Box is available for patented inventions.
• Competitive advantage: IP rights are monopoly rights meaning that they can serve to ring-fence an area of the market for your product.  This can be used to gain an advantage over competitors or a foothold in a new region, e.g. by prohibiting import of competing products.
• Investment: The presence of IP rights is attractive to investors, as you are seen to be at lower risk of being outcompeted in a particular market, and can help differentiate your business from competitor companies.  Moreover, granted IP rights can be seen as a stamp of approval, e.g. a patent may indicate that a product is highly innovative.

Debunking the IP myths

Myth: Food/beverage products are not eligible for protection

Reality: The unique shape of a food product or its packaging can be (and has successfully been) protected by trade marks and registered designs. 

Furthermore, some very familiar food products, such as rice cakes (Quaker Oats – EP1025764), granola bars (Quaker Oats – US4451488), and orange juice (Tropicana – WO 2004/060083) have been the subject of patent protection.  Put simply, if you provide a new and non-obvious technical solution to a problem, then your product or process is patentable.

Myth: Recipes are not patentable

Reality: Recipes are patentable so long as they solve a technical problem, such as a recipe that provides bread with improved texture or size (Warburtons – GB2545647).

Myth: Intellectual property protection is for big corporates, not SMEs

Reality: This is simply not true; some of the most innovative products come from SMEs.  Without appropriate IP protection in place, others can simply copy your product and exploit the fruits of your labour.  Having protection prevents this, and moreover differentiates you from your competitors, which can be extremely helpful when trying to attract investor funding.

Myth: Protecting my intellectual property is expensive

Reality: We have a wealth of experience of working with SMEs and helping tailor their portfolios to their budgets. Protecting your IP at the outset can provide numerous financial benefits in the long-run.

For more information, contact the author David Hobson, or visit our specialist food & beverage sector page.

On Thursday 25th October, the CJEU delivered a decision that puts beyond doubt, for the foreseeable future, that the duration of patent protection for medical devices cannot be extended by use of a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).

The SPC system was introduced across Europe in the 1990s to enable the term of protection for pharmaceutical products to be extended by up to 5 years if there has been a delay in getting the product to market due to the marketing authorisation process. While the regulations were originally intended to cover only pharmaceutical products, there has been pressure over recent years to extend the scope of SPCs to medical devices, which can also face significant delays in CE approval, particularly when the device is provided in combination with a drug product.

However, this decision from the CJEU now puts beyond doubt any question of medical devices enjoying the same extended protection as pharmaceutical products under the current regulations.

While it seems unlikely that there will be any change in European regulations in the near future, this is one area where there is expected to be pressure on the UK after Brexit to provide more favourable extended protection provisions, so there may be further developments around the corner.

To learn more about SPCs, Brexit affecting your intellectual property or protecting your innovation, please contact Caroline Warren. 

Although there are some similarities between the way that US and European authorities uphold antibody patents, there are also some important differences.

Mathys & Squire partner, Monika Rai and managing associate, Juliet Redhouse, explore those differences in September’s edition of BioPharm. Their article outlines the European Patent Office’s approach to antibodies, including such variations as single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) and single-domain antibodies.

To download and read the article in full, please click here. To discuss patenting antibodies further, please contact Monika Rai or Juliet Redhouse.

Juliet has experience advising on supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) in multiple European jurisdictions and handles a wide range of subject matter in the fields of molecular biology, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. She also has particular experience in the areas of antibody technology, vaccine technology, protein and peptide based medicines, recombinant gene expression, diagnostic assays and medical devices.

Following the launch of UK-US Science and Technology Agreement in September 2017 – aimed at strengthening research collaboration between the UK and the US – UK Science Minister Sam Gyimah has visited the US and announced further progress with research partnerships in medical technology.

The Minister confirmed that UK experts from the Life Sciences sector will visit Texas in November 2018 on a “fact-finding” mission, to investigate opportunities for innovation and to explore access to US markets for UK innovators.

17% of investment in UK research and development is financed from abroad. In view of this, and given the UK’s imminent departure from the EU, the UK Government is committed to keeping the UK connected to scientific advances being made around the world.

The recently agreed landmark ‘BioBridge’ collaboration between The Texas Medical Centre (TMC) and the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) is one example of such commitment.

As part of this  BioBridge collaboration, UK Life Sciences businesses will be able to be located at the TMC, where they will have access to advisors, investors and medical experts from both the TMC and DIT, enabling innovative individual projects and joint research in areas such as genomics and oncology.

Three UK companies have already made use of the BioBridge collaboration and healthcare trusts in Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester are also in discussions with TMC institutions regarding the formulation of partnerships.

Innovation within the Life Sciences sector is continually evolving however, as it is such a fiercely competitive industry, companies need to move fast to take products from promising ideas to market.

The Life Sciences team at Mathys & Squire comprises Patent attorneys experienced in working with a diverse range of clients; from university technology transfer organisations to international corporations. With degrees in subjects ranging from natural sciences and biochemistry to neuroscience, biotechnology and microbial technology – the team is recognised as having some of the leading practitioners in their field.

To learn more about our Life Sciences practice, please click here.

To download a brief background about the practice, please click here. 

To discuss protecting and commercialising your intellectual property and innovation, please email Managing Associate, Bethany Gibbs, via [email protected]. 

The UK Government published guidance on 24^th September outlining potential ramifications to trade mark and designs law should the UK leave the EU without an agreement in place – a ‘no deal’ scenario. The paper noted it was the duty as a “responsible government to prepare for all eventualities, including ‘no deal’”. To read the article in full, please click here.

The Mathys & Squire Trade Mark team understand that the goodwill in a brand can be the greatest asset a company owns and when managed carefully, that asset can be used to generate significant value in terms of revenue, market dominance and repeat product sales.

To learn more about our Trade Mark practice, please click here.

To combat the grey weather, London hosted its annual Design Festival, bringing some much needed colour to the city. The week long event showcased cutting edge designs and creations by artists, architects, interior designers and entrepreneurs across the city.

In honour of the Design Festival, we posted a series of Daily Design Dos and Don’ts on our Twitter page, sharing some top tips for protecting your designs, creativity and intellectual property.

Keep it confidential! Registered Designs should be sought before the design is publicly disclosed; otherwise this can preclude the opportunity to seek Registered Design protection.

Keep it cost effective. Under both UK and European Registered Design systems it’s possible to file several designs simultaneously in a multi-part application. The more you file, the lower the cost per design.

Keep designs protected. Registering a design in Europe and the UK is simple inexpensive and quick compared to other forms of intellectual property – plus there’s very little that cannot be protected by Registered Designs

Keep it clear and accountable. The first owner(s) of the intellectual property in a design is the original devisor(s) of that design.

Keep an eye on the calendar. The filing date of a Registered Design is critical. To remain in force UK & European Registered Designs must be renewed every 5 years.

Keep digi in mind. Registered Designs can be used to protect aesthetic aspects of digital products e.g. icons and aspects of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) – not just the external, physical product appearance.

Keep all your bases covered. Registered and Unregistered Designs are effective tools for protecting design aesthetics but should be used as part of a suite of IP rights e.g. trade marks, patents and copyrights.

To learn more about our Designs services, please click here or contact one of our attorneys on 0207 830 0000.

On 18 October 2018, Mathys & Squire Partner, James Pitchford, will be conducting an IP training day at the Cambridge Information and Intellectual Property Meeting (CIIPM), alongside CIIPM founders, Jane List and Stuart Newbold.

The topics covered will range from discussing the simple question – what is IP and why does it matter – to exploring the various types of IP protection available and the steps you can take to protect your creativity, ideas and innovation.

With information on patents, trade marks, copyrights and designs, the event will provide insights and tools to help protect and commercialise your IP portfolio alongside developing strategic business decisions.

For more information about the event, including ticket availability, please visit the CIIPM website.

James is a member of the European Patent Institute, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and an active member of CIPA’s International Liaison Committee, through which he has represented the Institute overseas. James has significant experience working with entrepreneurs, start-ups, spin-outs and SMEs, alongside large corporations, research institutions and universities.

CIIPM – founded in 2015 by Jane List of Extract Information and Stuart Newbold of Patent Search & Information Management, Cambridge Information and Intellectual Property Meeting aims to provide a knowledge sharing space  a space for knowledge sharing and learning to those who work with information and commercialising IP. 

On 12 September 2018, the UK Government announced a new Agricultural Bill, setting out a major post-Brexit policy to replace the current subsidy system of Direct Payments to farmers based on the total amount of land farmed.

A new Environmental Land Management system will start from next year which aims to reward farmers and land managers in return for “public goods”, including better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding. Those that provide the greatest environmental benefits will be rewarded with the largest payments, which is believed to lay the foundations for a Green Brexit.

Key aims

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said that the Bill will be underpinned by measures to increase productivity and investment in R&D, including funding for research projects. As such, using the powers in the Agriculture Bill, Defra has pledged to:

• support innovation to improve productivity;
• improve investment in farming equipment, technology and infrastructure; and
• facilitate collaboration and pioneer the use of more innovative and efficient farming techniques.

A Defra policy statement has since served to highlight the priority of the Bill in enhancing food security based on strong domestic production, acknowledging that British farmers play a crucial role in the food chain and that this future policy will support farmers to provide more home-grown produce.

This comes at a time when concerns over global food shortages are steadily growing as current projected food production trends fall well short of the projected demand of a global population (expected to reach 9 billion by 2050), and when importation of food products from foreign countries may become more complicated for the UK following Brexit.

Why focus on agriculture?

Agri-Science was identified in 2014 as part of the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) “Eight Great Technologies” report as a robust and growing area for innovation in the UK. We have already had glimpses of a number of new technologies that are set to revolutionise traditional farming methods and potentially offer farmers and land managers a greater share of the rewards under the new system. The use of new technologies, including drones and robotics, farm management software packages, vertical farming, aquaponic farms for urban environments, gene-editing and biological pesticides, to name but a few, may become even more commonplace as farmers become further incentivised to improve their productivity and the extent they contribute to the “public goods”.

The Agricultural Bill thus appears to add additional impetus for further research and innovation in what has already been identified as a significant area of growth in the UK.

Mathys & Squire’s Agri-Tech team work with a range of businesses at the cutting edge of farming and food production. To discuss IP and Agri-tech, please call 0207 830 0000.

Michael Stott has worked in the patent profession since 2008 and has been involved in the drafting and prosecution of patent applications in the UK, Europe, and many overseas jurisdictions, including the US. Michael’s expertise span a wide range of technologies including electronic materials and devices, agrochemicals, petrochemistry, food chemistry and absorbent articles.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has pulled all contracts with the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) ahead of the UK withdrawing from the EU next year. The EMA has instead redistributed the UK’s product portfolio to other EU members – prompting questions about the potential impacts of Brexit on healthcare and what will fill the gap for the MHRA.

Mathys & Squire Life Sciences Partner, Martin MacLean, provided insight on this development which has since been featured in PharmSource, European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer and Labiotech. Please click the images below to download the articles and read Martin’s commentary.

For further information regarding Brexit and the EMA or intellectual property developments in the Life Sciences and Chemistry field, please contact Martin on [email protected] or call 0207 830 0000 to speak with a patent attorney in our Life Sciences team. 

Martin Maclean is a Band 1 Patent Attorney and a member of the Life Sciences Committee for the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys. He has consistently been nominated by peers as one of the world’s leading practitioners in the field of patents featuring in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions of Who’s Who Legal: Patents and has also been ranked in the latest edition of IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2017. 

Our Manchester Mathys & Squire team is attending Venturefest North West 2018. 

Ready to help innovators protect, commercialise and develop tailored strategies for their intellectual property, the team are looking forward to meeting budding entrepreneurs at the Manchester Central event on Thursday 13th September.

Venturefest also includes an Innovation Showcase Competition!

Companies compete across four categories: product innovation, service innovation, digital innovation and innovative established business, pitching their business ideas for the chance to win thousands of pounds worth of business support, provided by organisers GC Business Growth Hub and its partners.

Open to small and medium-sized businesses from across the North West, the competition is now in its fifth year and is a fantastic opportunity to present your ideas to the market place.

We are delighted to be awarding one lucky prize winner an in-depth IP clinic: a chance to sit with our team and run through your patent and trade mark portfolio, audit your IP and discuss the potential challenges facing you and your business.

We look forward to seeing you there – and good luck to the competition finalists!