We are delighted to learn that we have been successful in assisting a Monaghan based fish and chip restaurant in defending an opposition at the Irish Patents Office by an international company against the local company's application to register a composite trade mark featuring the words The Monte Carlo and other graphic matter. The international opponents [...]
1. What are the most effective ways for the owner of an Irish Patent derived from a European Patent to enforce its rights in Ireland? Enforcement of a European patent in Ireland is available only by petition to the High Court in civil proceedings. Infringement proceedings are handled by the Chancery Division of the High [...]
It has been widely reported in the Irish media that the Trade Union Unite is launching a test case in an attempt to force the owners of the Trade Mark WATERFORD to have crystal glass sold under that trade mark made exclusively in Waterford. Some crystal items are still made in Waterford but the vast [...]
A large number of patent applications are filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) for computer implemented inventions – a term defined by the EPO to be “an invention that works by using a computer, a computer network or other programmable apparatus and that to qualify [as a computer implemented invention], the invention also needs [...]
Once a Community Trade Mark (CTM) has been registered for an initial period of five years, the registration may be challenged on the ground that the trade mark has not been put to genuine use within the European Community during a continuous period of five years. In the event of such a challenge, the CTM [...]
The IP Translator case concerned the use of class headings when filing applications to register trade marks. In 2003, the Community Trade Marks Office decided that an application to register a trade mark in a particular class could cover all of the goods or services in that class by reciting the Nice Classification heading (Communication [...]
On 19th February 2013, 22 member states of the European Union sealed the deal to create the court structure for the new Community Patent. Once the new Community Patent system begins, it will be possible for applicants to file a single application resulting in a patent extending to all countries of the European Union except [...]
The America Invents Act (AIA) entered into force on 16th March 2013. This act replaces the “first-to-invent” system with a “first-inventor-to-file” system that is more consistent with the rest of the world. It expands the definition of prior art used in determining patentability both geographically and in relation to publication date, eliminates interference proceedings and allows [...]