Mathys & Squire are delighted to have received an award for ‘Continuous Improvement’ from Harley-Davidson.

The award was presented to the trade mark team in appreciation of their support and outstanding accomplishments in 2015.

Margaret Arnott accepted the award at the INTA conference, which took place in Orlando in May.

We are pleased to have joined Westminster Business Council as one of their Corporate Partners. 

Westminster Business Council aims to help businesses grow by providing business intelligence and contacts. Being an active part of the start-up and SME community is important to us. Many of our clients do not have in-house IP expertise and we work alongside them to advise on the best course of action, that will make the most commercial sense. Understanding the value of a potential innovation or a brand is as important as understanding the technology or marketing behind it. Clients in this space value our honesty and we are well-known for the robust and practical advice that we give.

For more information about Westminster Business Council please click here.

From the 1st July, the EPO have announced that applicants will receive a full refund of their examination fee for any application they withdraw, or which is refused or deemed withdrawn, before substantive examination has begun.

The refund was previously set at 75%. 

For more information please click on the link below. 

http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2016/20160701.html

On 1 July it was announced that the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation had agreed to reform its Board of Appeal.

The Board of Appeal is the body that takes decisions on appeals against decisions of the European Patent Office concerning European patent applications and European patents. Member states have voted and accepted a comprehensive reform proposal that will allow the Board of Appeal greater independence and improve efficiency.

These reforms include:

• creating a new Boards of Appeal Unit within the EPO, which will be managed by a President of the Boards of Appeal (a new position)
• the President of the BoA will report to the Administrative Council rather than the EPO President
• a newly created subsidiary committee of the Administrative Council, the Boards of Appeal Committee, will create a link between the BoA and the Administrative Council and advise the President of the Boards of Appeal on managerial and organisational issues
• the new Boards of Appeal unit will be based in Munich
• the EPO President will delegate to the President of the Boards of Appeal all managerial powers relating to the Boards of Appeal Unit.

For further information please see click on the link below.

https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2016/20160701a.html

We are pleased to have joined the North East Automotive Alliance as one of their corporate partners. 

The NEAA are an industry-led cluster group, who aim to support the economic sustainable growth of the sector in the North East of England. They were formed in 2015 and are now one of the fastest growing clusters across Europe.  

For more information about the NEAA please click here. 

The EPO has introduced a new opposition procedure, intended to simplify proceedings and ensure that decisions are delivered faster. 

The EPO expects to cut the overall duration of opposition cases from between 19-27 month to 15 months. 

For more information please click on the link below. 

http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2016/05/a42.html

We were pleased to co-host an event in June with Shenzhen National Hi-tech Industrial Innovation Centre, who are based in China. 

The event was held at the Hilton London Tower Bridge, and looked at innovation in China and the UK. 

It is important to note that this vote does not affect Mathys & Squire’s ability to represent its clients in the UK or in Europe.

EP Patents

The vote to leave the EU will not affect the UK’s relationship with the European Patent Office (EPO).

The EPO is governed by the European Patent Convention (EPC) and is not an EU institution. There are already several non-EU member states that are members of the EPC, including Switzerland, Norway and Turkey.

The UK will therefore remain a member of the EPC, regardless of its departure from the EU, and patent protection in the UK will still be available by filing a European patent application at the EPO. Our European patent attorneys will continue to be able to file and prosecute European patent applications, and handle EPO oppositions and appeals on behalf of all our clients.

EU trade marks and registered designs

Although the UK’s exit from the EU will have an impact on EU trade marks and registered designs, the ramifications are not immediately clear.

For now, however, the UK is still a member state of the EU, and all the legislation that gives effect to EU law is still in place. Nothing as a matter of law has changed as a result of the vote to leave. Instead, the vote marks the beginning of a legal process whereby the UK will notify the European Council of its decision to withdraw from the EU. That will initiate the formal process of withdrawal, which is intended to be effected by negotiation and agreement in a subsequent two year period. Given the complexity of the relationship between the EU and the UK, it may be that this two year period is extended until an agreement is reached.

Thus, in the immediate future, there are unlikely to be any changes to existing rights or to new applications for EU trade marks and registered designs. However, we will closely monitor the situation and will provide updates as and when we know more.

Rest assured, we remain a European business, and will take all necessary steps to ensure that the services that we provide in respect of EU trade marks and registered designs remain unaffected.

If you have any questions about this topic please contact your attorney at Mathys & Squire for more information.

Mathys & Squire was delighted to sponsor the Health Enterprise East “NHS Innovation Awards 2016”, which took place on 9 June at the Radisson Stanstead.

Graham Spenceley and Andrew White attended the Awards on behalf of Mathys & Squire. Andrew presented the award for ‘Best Medical Technology Innovation’ to Peter Hoskin and his team for their impressive work on fixation templates for brachytherapy.  Congratulations to all winners, and in particular to Peter Hoskin and his team.

Bulgaria is now the 10th country to ratify the UPC. Ratification from one more country, in addition to the UK and Germany, is now needed to bring the UPC into force.

Ireland has also taken steps towards ratification, although a referendum is necessary before ratification.

If you have any questions about this topic or for more information please contact Caroline Warren at [email protected].