Bulletins
11 March
2022
Bulletins
China to join Hague system for International Designs
Registered design protection is an effective way of protecting a product’s market share from similar looking competing products and obtaining registered designs can significantly improve a company’s position in case a dispute arises. Each country/region has their own laws regarding design protection and their own systems for registering designs. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain...
23 February
2022
Bulletins
Electronic signing of assignments
Assignment documents filed electronically may now be signed using ‘qualified electronic signatures’. Previously Previously, assignments, licences and other agreements for recordal were only accepted by the EPO if they had been executed using an original hand signature (though scanned copies were, and still are, sufficient for filing). Now At the end of last year, the...
11 February
2022
Bulletins
Updates to the EPO Guidelines for Examination
The EPO have announced their upcoming amendments of the Guidelines for Examination which will enter into force on 1 March 2022. A number of notable amendments to the Guidelines are scheduled; we will follow with more detailed discussions regarding the changes to Description Amendments and Electronic Signatures of Assignments, whereas here we will look at...
19 January
2022
Bulletins
The UPC moves another step closer: The Provisional Application Phase Has Begun!
The Provisional Application Phase (PAP) of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has finally started! Austria deposited their ratification of the PAP-Protocol on 18 January 2022, taking the number of ratifications to thirteen, as required for entry into force of this Protocol. This is the first of two steps required for the UPC to become operational....
14 January
2022
Bulletins
UKIPO acknowledges the possibility of a Formstein defence
Ever since the Supreme Court shook up the patent landscape in the UK with their decision in Actavis v Eli Lilly there has been an open question regarding how the newly enlarged patent scope which encompasses equivalents interacted with validity and third-party certainty. Prior to Actavis, the Gillette defence or Gillette principle was often referred to....
Newsletter
BWT Boult Bite TM Magazine Spring 2021
Welcome to the Spring edition of boult.bites. Inside this issue you will find our main article: Brexit four months on, which discusses getting to grips with the changes and challenges of the UK in its post-EU landscape. You will also find: Insight articles and team news, including our staying connected staff profile on Katharina Baker, a trade mark attorney in our London office.
boult.bites TM Brexit Edition 2021
In this Brexit special edition of boult.bites TM we discuss the impact of post Brexit within the IP world. We have included a check list with key steps you should consider for rights holders.
Brexit latest including a summary of the post Brexit changes on and our Brexit news articles covering recent major changes that affect pending actions at the EUIPO before 31 December 2020, use and reputation in the UK going forward and changes to geographical indications from 1 January 2021.
Welcome to the Autumn edition of boult.bites TM. In this issue, we discuss the important changes to trade mark and design rights in the UK and the steps you can take. We highlight our readiness for the new Brexit world, having full-service offices in the UK, Germany, and Spain And, we throw the spotlight on Alexander Stolz, a German Solicitor in our Berlin office.
View allBe Brexit-ready with our Brexit toolkit