All of the Partners & People of AA Thornton have joined Venner Shipley
As December approaches, you may have considered purchasing (for another, or just yourself!) an advent calendar to mark the run-up to Christmas. Traditionally all about revealing seasonal pictures or chocolate, the cosmetics industry has in recent years created its own version that is now a growing market: the beauty advent calendar. These offer an array… Read more »
Black History Month is celebrated in the UK each October. It provides a chance for everyone to share, celebrate and better understand the achievements of black people both within the UK and around the world. Each year, a different theme is announced to focus attention on a particular issue, and this year’s theme is “Reclaiming… Read more »
We are pleased to announce that AA Thornton has achieved a Tier 2 ranking in the Patents and Trade Mark Attorneys category of the Legal 500 UK 2025. Additionally, the firm has been recognised as Tier 5 in both the Patents (contentious and non-contentious) and Trade Marks, copyright and design categories. We are particularly proud… Read more »
International patent applications filed using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (‘PCT’) framework allow applicants to select the contracting states of interest for national and/or regional phase applications. The deadline to file an application in any specific country or region is usually 30 or 31 months from the application’s priority date. The deadline for specific countries and… Read more »
Third party observations are a potentially very useful tool that enables substantive commentary to be filed in relation to pending patent applications. In this article, we will explore the benefits and potential drawbacks associated with third party observations and take a closer look at how the International and European observation procedures may be used to… Read more »
We are delighted to be recognised once again in the Financial Times’ annual listing of Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms. This is the sixth edition of the FT’s special report, which is compiled following recommendations from industry peers and clients, and highlights just 208 firms across the whole of Europe. More than 10,000 patent attorneys… Read more »
Capturing the attention of both legal experts and technology enthusiasts alike, the UK Supreme Court handed down its highly anticipated decision in the case of Thaler (Appellant) v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (Respondent) on 20 December. In a unanimous decision, the UK Supreme Court dismissed Dr Thaler’s appeal which relates to two inventions… Read more »
As announced in a statement by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice on 17 February 2023, Germany has now ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement. This confirms the start date of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent system as 1 June 2023. Germany’s ratification also provides confirmation that the “sunrise period”, during which proprietors… Read more »
The UK IPO has issued the first Tribunal Practice Notice (TPN) of 2023, which brings together previous guidance regarding costs in trade mark, patent and design tribunal proceedings and updates the scale of costs. Scale of costs The UK IPO Tribunal will continue to award costs in proceedings in line with the published scale. The… Read more »