Novelty definition

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Patent invalidity and revocation

This Practice Note discusses the grounds for patent invalidity and revocation under the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977), focusing on lack of novelty (anticipation) and insufficiency. It also explains the key terminology which is relevant to patent validity considerations, such as the priority date, the person skilled in the art (or the skilled addressee) and common general knowledge (CGK).The rationale behind patents, which protect new inventions, is that they encourage innovation because they reward the patent owner with 20 or more years during which they can prevent others from infringing their patents, that is, making, using, importing or selling the invention without permission. For more information, see Practice Note: Patent infringement.A patent is granted following a formal application and registration procedure. During this process (which is referred to as patent prosecution), the patent application is examined by a patent examiner at the relevant intellectual property office (eg the UK Intellectual Property Office and European Patent Office (EPO)) to check whether the invention claimed is patentable (ie satisfies the patentability criteria)...

Economic tort of unlawful interference

Economic tort of unlawful interference As set out in The economic torts—overview, the law makes provision to protect a person’s trade or business from acts which are considered to be unacceptable. For guidance on claims for: • procuring a breach of contract, see Practice Note: The tort of procuring a breach of contract • intentional violation of rights in a judgment debt, see Practice Note: The Marex tort (interference with a judgment debt) • conspiracy (both by lawful and unlawful means), see Practice Note: Civil conspiracy claims (economic tort) • economic duress, see Practice Note: Economic duress—undue influence—tort of intimidation • intentional violation with the claimant’s rights in a judgment debt, see Practice Note: The Marex tort (interference with a judgment debt) Civil claims involving fraud and dishonesty often rely on pleading one or more of the economic torts, on which see Practice Note: Civil fraud—causes of action (heads of claim). What is the tort of unlawful interference? Causing loss by unlawful means exists where the defendant interferes with...

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Music artist’s merchandising agreement (pro-licensee)

Music artist’s merchandising agreement (pro-licensee) This Agreement is made on [insert date] PARTIES 1 [Insert artist name] of [insert artist address] (hereinafter called the ‘Artist’); and 2 [Insert licensee name] a company incorporated in England and Wales whose registered number is [insert company number] and whose registered office is at [insert registered office address] (hereinafter called the ‘Company’ which expression includes its successors and assigns). THE PARTIES AGREE: 1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 The following definitions apply in this Agreement: Advance • has the meaning given to it in clause 7 below; Agreement • means this Agreement and any and all schedules and annexes attached to it or incorporated in it by reference; Artist’s Name • means ‘[insert the Artist’s professional name]’ and/or such other professional name(s) as the Artist may from time to time use during the Term; Artist’s Property • means the Artist’s Name, characters, symbols, logos, identifying indicia, designs, Artwork Materials and all or any intellectual property rights and/or other like property...

Ireland—Non-confidential disclosure letter agreement

This Precedent is for use where one party is providing information to another on a non-confidential basis. This is intended to cover the situation where a business accepts submissions for ideas for new research or technological development, for example designs, inventions or apps. The recipient business will not want to commit to keeping information in submissions confidential in case this has the effect of restricting its ability to fully exploit similar research or development that it has been carrying on independently. Instead, the onus is on the disclosing party to rely on any intellectual property rights which may subsist, such as patents or design rights, to protect the subject matter of their submission. This letter is drafted from a pro-recipient perspective. The disclosing party should therefore be careful how much information they disclose in this way and ensure that a binding confidentiality agreement is entered into before disclosing commercially sensitive or confidential information that is not in the public domain or any inventions that are not yet protected by patents...

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What are the main pros and cons of remote access mediation versus face-to-face mediation?

What are the main pros and cons of remote access mediation versus face-to-face mediation? Practising social distancing, coronavirus (COVID-19) style, presents serious challenges for the mediation of disputes. Some brave souls may still be willing to try face-to-face mediations (subject to compliance with the guidelines), but virtually all seem to have moved online during the coronavirus crisis. At present there is not much need of debate—either mediate on line or probably not at all until the social distancing regime eases. Two questions can however be posed today. If remote mediation is the only realistic choice, is it worth trying? Is remote mediation attractive in its own right and will it be part of the mediation scene post coronavirus? Practitioners may answer both questions in the affirmative. Online dispute resolution is nothing new—it has been around as long as the technology has been readily available. However, it is not really accurate to describe most of the available processes as mediation, they are really bargaining forums where offers and...

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Patenting AI innovations in healthcare—navigating European patent law

Life Sciences analysis: Jack Severs, partner and Joe Spencer, associate of Gill Jennings & Every LLP analyse the landscape of patent-eligible subject matter within the domain of AI healthcare in Europe.

Mediating remotely—how and why, now and in the future

Dispute Resolution analysis: Mediation specialists, In Place of Strife (IPOS), consider the pros and cons of remote mediations in light of their own experiences, particularly augmented by the move to remote working in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. They also consider where remote mediation will be in a post-coronavirus world, whenever that may come.