An invention must involve an inventive step to be patentable.

An inventor is the natural person who has made the original inventive contribution embodied in an invention, typically reflected in a patent application or granted patent. In UK law (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), the concept is principally defined in the Patents Act 1977, which treats the inventor as the “actual deviser” of the invention. Irish law adopts a broadly similar approach under the Patents Act 1992, focussing on the person who created the invention.In all these jurisdictions, only individuals (not companies) can be inventors, although employers and others may acquire ownership (patent entitlement) by statute, contract or assignment. Joint inventors arise where more than one person contributes materially to the inventive concept.Correct identification and naming of the inventor in patent applications is legally and commercially significant, affecting entitlement disputes, employee compensation claims, validity challenges and enforceability of patent rights. Misidentification can lead to rectification proceedings or, in some circumstances, revocation.Across the UK and Ireland, the term “inventor” is used consistently in patent law, patent litigation, technology transfer, R&D agreements and employee invention policies, and is central when advising on ownership, exploitation and infringement of patent-protected technology.

The raw materials, work in progress and finished goods which are the stock-in-trade of a business.

The maximum amount which an asset-based lender is prepared to advance against the value of inventory at any time, being the advance percentage of the value of eligible inventory.

the exercise of ownership rights over property belonging to another party, most commonly a tenant exercising rights which are not authorised by the lease and which the landlord is entitled to prevent

An EU-wide association representing the equity'>private equity and venture capital industry.

This Practice Note reviews the process for investigating disease claims. Guidance on obtaining evidence, requesting medical records and preparing witness statements and documents is provided, together with a review of the limitation issues which are commonly encountered in disease claims. Obtaining evidence Occupational disease claims relate to exposure to, eg asbestos, excessive vibration, noise or irritants within a workplace environment, such as a factory. As a claimant solicitor, as with any personal injury claim, the potential claimant (claimant) will be crucial in assisting with the investigation of the claim. If the claimant has remained resident in the area where their place of work was/is situated, they may be able to provide important information. In any event, instructions should be sought on: • employments where potential exposure occurred • reliable work histories provide the most practical and useful measure of exposure • how the exposure occurred—source • warnings/signs and preventive measures (eg hearing protection/personal protective equipment (PPE) provided) • factory surveys (eg of dust levels or noise levels) • health tests (eg lung function tests or audiograms) • witnesses—fellow

Carrying out adequate searches and enquiries of planning aspects of property is important for a person/entity before acquiring that property or an interest in that property to ensure that they will: • not be liable for complying with unknown outstanding obligations or conditions or for remedying or paying for previous breaches of planning control • be able to use the property for the intended purposes If the buyer discovers a breach of planning control or outstanding liabilities, it can ask the seller to: • remedy the breach before exchange/settle the liability • take out insurance for any loss in the value of the property and legal expenses incurred in defending an attempt to enforce the breach • negotiate a reduction on the sale price to reflect the costs of the buyer's costs of remedying the breach or settling the liability If the buyer would not be able to use the property for the intended purposes, it may have to factor in the likely costs, time and chances of success of making a planning application to authorise its future uses/operations.

Searches are an essential part of the examination of any heritable title in Scotland and no conveyance can safely settle without them. The content of a search is usually from a public record or register (eg Land Register, Register of Sasines, Register of Inhibitions, Companies House and where appropriate Local Authorities) although it is often augmented with data collected from a variety of sources. Searching is a specialised, exacting and highly technical exercise which, since the mid-19th century, the legal profession has been happy to leave to professional searchers and rely implicitly on their expertise. Searches are usually requested by the seller’s solicitor. It is usual practice for the searches to be ordered early in the transaction to allow time to resolve any adverse matters which are disclosed. Certain searches will need to be current at the date of the transaction so updates of these searches are ordered immediately before settlement. Standard pre-registration searches The nature of the standard searches that will be required for a transaction will depend on

Companies can find themselves victims of fraud or the vehicles for fraud perpetrated by management. In the former case, assets belonging to the company are misappropriated. In the latter case, the company may have a partly genuine business or no genuine business at all. In both cases insolvency can result. On appointment, the office-holder will want to investigate what has happened, locate company assets and make a recovery for creditors. Investigation and enquiry into a company’s assets Once a decision has been made to appoint an insolvency practitioner (IP) to a company, the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) provides certain powers to enable the appointed office-holder to investigate the dealings of, and thereafter collect in the assets of, a company. IA 1986, s 236 allows any administrator, administrative receiver, liquidator or provisional liquidator to apply to court for an order to be made against any of the following categories of person requiring them to provide information about the company and/or its dealings, produce any books, papers or other records

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that the London Borough of Haringey was at fault for miscalculating a family’s housing benefit entitlement and incorrectly telling the family’s landlord that the family owed the landlord over £8,000 in backdated benefits. As a result of the investigation, the London Borough of Haringey is paying damages to the mother of the family and has agreed to determine why the calculation mistakes were made. In addition, the London Borough of Haringey council will determine why it made calculation errors, audit cases where it calculated overpayments applying the 2 child restriction and report these findings to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Although the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) repealed and replaced much of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000), the provisions in RIPA 2000, Pt III which relate to the power of public bodies to issue notices to decrypt encrypted information or to provide decryption keys remain in force, albeit amended by IPA 2016. For information on the IPA 2016, see Practice Note: The regulation of intelligence gathering—an introductory guide. Investigation of encrypted electronic data RIPA 2000, Pt III regulates the investigation by a public authority of electronic data which is protected by encryption. The provisions are supplemented by a Code of Practice which is admissible in evidence in criminal and civil proceedings. There are a range of means by which businesses, individuals and criminals can secure and protect their electronic data and to maintain the privacy of their electronic communications. The protection of electronic data can be achieved in various ways, including, at a basic level, a password which gives access to the data in an intelligible