Contrary to earlier decisions, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the European Patent Office (EPO) has decided that plants or animals obtained via an ‘essentially biological process’ are no longer patentable. In this article, the expert team at Serjeants provides further details on the...
Following the recent case of Shanks vs Unilever, Serjeants takes a closer look at the changes to the way in which an invention is considered to have provided an “outstanding benefit” to employers. Outstanding benefit Inventions made by an employee, either in the course of their employment...
The BBC recently reported on two patent applications that have been filed with an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system named as the inventor. This move by academics is to challenge the rule that innovations can only be attributed to humans. The patent attorneys at Serjeants explain...
In order for an invention to be patentable it must be new and inventive compared to any information that was publicly available before the filing of the first patent application for the invention. In other words, if the existence of an invention has been revealed to...
A recent High Court decision has highlighted the importance of the ‘inventive concept’ of a patent when it comes to patent infringement. Serjeants’ expert patent attorney Tim Cadman explains: The wording of a patent claim is usually enough to determine patent infringement. However, in Regen Lab...
A final year product design and technology student from Loughborough University, and now a client of Serjeants, has received international coverage of his latest invention - an underwater jetpack. Archie O’Brien designed and developed a functional prototype of his underwater jetpack in just 12 months as...
2017 has been a notable year for high profile intellectual property disputes that have had a major impact on UK patent and trade mark registrations and infringements. Serjeants’ Tim Cadman highlights the key points from a few of the more significant cases that have taken place...
Developed by Loughborough University’s Control Systems Research Group, Repoint is a revolutionary new railway track switch that could help support increased levels of day-to-day rail traffic across our networks and significantly reduce rail service disruption caused by points failures. Now, with the backing of a consortium...
Would the planned referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU have any effect on the UPC Agreement? If the UK votes to leave the EU, it must also leave the UPC although there is nothing to stop the new system continuing without the...
