UK should move to making patenting of quantum computing easier: UK lags far behind Europe in IP law
The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) may be discouraging innovation in Quantum Computing by making it harder to patent technology in this sector, says intellectual property law firm Mathys & Squire. That risks driving developers of Quantum Computing to...
Open Invention Network reaches 4,000 community members
Open-source software continues to expand its reach within the commercial software industry. According to research from GitHub and The Linux Foundation, 40% of businesses contribute open-source code daily and 60% at least weekly. It spans every major technology sector,...
Harvard and Samsung end dispute on semiconductor technologies
Harvard University and Samsung have settled a patent infringement dispute concerning semiconductor manufacturing techniques. On January 28, Harvard dismissed its lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texax in August of 2024, waiving rights to refile. The parties...
Looking back at AIPPI World Congress 2024 in Hangzhou, China
The 2024 AIPPI World Congress, held in the picturesque city of Hangzhou from October 19 to 22, was a landmark event for the global intellectual property (IP) community. Hosting more than 2,300 IP professionals from 92 countries, the Congress underscored China’s...
Veteran attorney Michael Kiklis launches boutique patent law firm
Alexandria, Va. – September 4, 2024 – Michael L Kiklis is pleased to announce the launch of his boutique patent law firm, Kiklis Law Firm, PLLC. The firm, headquartered in Alexandria and situated near the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), offers a comprehensive...
Jon Wright returns to Sterne Kessler in new role as General Counsel
Washington, D.C. – September 4, 2024 – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox today announced that Jon Wright has returned to the firm as General Counsel. Wright was previously a director in the firm’s Trial & Appellate and Electronics Practice Groups and co-chair...
ERS Genomics and Medicines Discovery Catapult sign CRISPR/Cas9 license agreement
The partnership provides Medicines Discovery Catapult access to CRISPR gene editing technology across a broad range of drug discovery applications Dublin, Ireland, and Cheshire, UK - 4 September 2024 - ERS Genomics Limited (ERS), the CRISPR licensing Company,...
More Copyright News
British government indemnifies ventilator manufacturers
The British government has announced that UK firms manufacturing ventilators for use in combating the COVIC-19 pandemic will be protected by the government from the financial impact of potential legal claims arising over intellectual property infringements or personal...
Spin Master awarded highest-ever patent infringement damages for foreign plaintiff in China
Leading global children’s entertainment company, Spin Master, has won a major victory in a long-running patent dispute against one of the most prominent toy producers in China, resulting in the largest damages ever awarded to a foreign patent owner. In a first...
India – extensions and lockdowns
In light of current global events, and in line with many other jurisdictions, the Indian Supreme Court has extended the limitation period for the filing of suits, appeals, and applications in all proceedings before any court, tribunal, or authority in India. The...
Financial heart attack for Amarin
In a decisive and damaging blow for the Irish pharmaceutical giant, a US Federal Court decision has ruled that six patents owned by Amarin Corporation, and used in its successful drug VASCEPA, are invalid. VASCEPA, a treatment for cardiovascular disease originally...
Experts react to “unconstitutional” Unified Patent Court
The future of Europe’s Unified Patent Court (UPC) seems increasingly in doubt. First, the British Government confirmed that it would not seek membership of the Court following Brexit, and now Germany’s intended involvement has been deemed “unconstitutional”. The UPC...
EUIPO and EPO extend deadlines
Given the enormous, and growing, disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Patent Office (EPO) has taken the decision to extend all deadlines for application until 17 April 2020. The decision was announced in a Notice dated 17 March, which stated that...
EPO Patent Index 2019 – AI and 5G drive growth
The recently published European Patent Office (EPO) Patent Index 2019 Annual Report contains various headline findings, including: A 4% annual growth in the number of EPO patent applications in 2019. EPO States now account for 45% of patent applications (with Germany,...
UK turns its back on Unified Patent Court
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the British Government has confirmed that it will not be seeking membership of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) following Brexit. Publishing its negotiating objectives for any future relationship between the UK and the EU, the Government has also...
Quibi sues Eko over trade secrets claim
Following claims that it stole trade secrets, US mobile video platform Quibi, founded in 2018 by Jeffrey Katzenberg and due to launch on 6 April, has launched legal proceedings against tech company Eko, denying patent infringement and stating that the latter “embarked...
Derwent report shows fragmented patent landscape
According to the latest Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators report, released by Clarivate Analytics, the emergence of market disrupters is fragmenting the global patent landscape and diluting the invention market share of leading innovators. Rapid change has seen large...
Supreme Court victory for VirnetX
In what represents an enormous, and expensive, blow for Apple, the US Supreme Court has declined to consider the tech giant’s appeal from a recent Court of Appeal decision, in which it was held that Apple could not proceed with patent invalidation claims against...
Neodron strikes again
Controversial Irish patent-holding company Neodron has launched a patent infringement action against Apple in the US District Court, claiming that four of its patents have been used without permission by Apple in the capacitive touchscreens used in Apple's iPhone 11...
USPTO patent statistics saw upward trend in 2019
The total number of patents granted in the United States has been more-or-less static over the last five years. However, that trend came seemed to come to an end last year. New 2019 USPTO patent statistics analysis, carried out using Anaqua’s AcclaimIP patent search...
AI and IP – the WIPO consultation
The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) is currently undertaking a public consultation on AI and IP, seeking comments from interested parties on the likely impact of AI on IP law and practice. Saiful Khan, partner and specialist electronics and computing patent...
Apple loses latest VirnetX action
It has been nearly ten years since Apple and VirnetX first locked horns in patent litigation. VirnetX, a Nevada-based security technology company, holds patents for tech used in secure communications – patents that, VirnetX has alleged in proceedings against both...
WiLan awarded $85 million against Apple
A California jury has ruled against Apple in its most recent skirmish with Canadian intellectual property licensing company WiLan, finding that the tech giant owes the latter some $85 million in damages. WiLan has been involved in patent proceedings against Apple,...
Nintendo patent verdict overturned
Long-running proceedings against gaming behemoth Nintendo have concluded in the company’s favor after a US federal court found that the Kyoto-based company did not infringe motion-control patents held by iLife Technologies Inc, a Dallas tech company that has developed...
Pharmaceutical companies are the “big winners” from US-China trade deal
Whether the recent US-China trade deal will have the desired effect of ending the acrimonious trade war between the two countries remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the deal will have consequences for IP matters such as pharmaceutical patents, and...
Big changes to Saudi IP hearings
The Saudi justice minister Walid Al-Samaani has announced that, from February, patent and copyright cases will be heard by commercial courts and/or committees established within those courts. Previously, such cases were heard by two committees, constituted to examine...
Philips bid to block US Fitbit sales
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain wearable monitoring devices manufactured by, amongst others, Fitbit and Garmin. The investigation follows a complaint filed by Philips North America, alleging violations...
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Women in IP Leadership
A segment dedicated to women working in the IP industry, providing a platform to share real accounts from rising women around the globe. In these interviews we will be discussing experiences, celebrating milestones and achievements, and putting forward ideas for advancing equity and diversity.
By providing a platform to share personal experiences we aim to continue the empowerment of women in the world of IP.


Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Series
In this six-part series Dr. Suzanne Wertheim, of Worthwhile Research & Consulting, talks to The Patent Lawyer about diversity, equity, and inclusion: what it means; the current challenges; DEI in law; gender bias; and what we can all do to improve.