In some countries, using a trade mark, i.e., those signs that identify your brand, may lead to an unregistered trade mark right, known as goodwill. Goodwill, in this context, is the attractive force that brings in customers. It's the reason why consumers choose to buy your goods again, based on their positive past experiences with [...]
What is "Freedom to Operate"? Generally speaking, Freedom to Operate refers to the ability to use or commercialise a product or process without infringing on another party's valid Intellectual Property rights. While the term Freedom to Operate generally refers to Patents, it is wise to consider other types of IP rights before launching any product [...]
M&D has been celebrating World Intellectual Property Day over the last week. This year the theme for World Intellectual Property Day is "Youth and IP" and we have published two articles, and a number of trivia pieces, to celebrate the importance of Intellectual Property in the drive among the the younger generation to innovate for [...]
Cherrie Stewart, Chartered Trade Mark Attorney in Ansons, part of the M&D group, has recently contributed an insightful article to the CITMA Review on the current situation of Intellectual Property in Northern Ireland. With the Northern Irish Protocol now in place following the implementation of Brexit, the implications for IP have become ever more complex. [...]
WIPO have published a Technology Trends report on Assistive Technology which can be found here. It identifies a list of emerging assistive technologies and has analyzed related patenting activity. They have made it simple to assess the wide range of assistive technologies, meant to support people with functional limitations, by creating an interactive and accessible [...]
Trade mark infringement can be loosely defined as the unauthorised use of a registered trade mark by any third party in the course of trade. In fact, the purpose of a trade mark registration is to provide the owner with a monopoly right in a sign used by them to distinguish their goods or services [...]
Most of you would be familiar with the U2 song "Where the Streets Have No Name". Now according to the BBC ( http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-44088403 ), it's a case of "Where the bands have the same name" for Elijah Hewson, son of U2 frontman, Bono. Hewson is a member of a four piece band called INHALER (INHALER IE) [...]
In this post, I would like to discuss a recent EPO report that provides an overview of the major technology trends observed, based on EP patent information, across a range of technology fields associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). More specifically, I would like to discuss the role of software patents in 4IR and the changes [...]
Trade Marks are registered in respect of goods and/or services which fall in one or more of 45 classes established through the Offices of WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization) by the Nice Agreement in 1957. The 10th Addition of the Classification came into force on January 1 2016. Each class has a heading. For [...]
The patent landscape in Europe is set to change dramatically with the introduction of the Unitary European Patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC). The various working groups of the UPC Preparatory Committee, together with national patent offices, are continuing to work out details of the rules for Europe’s new patent system, which we expect will [...]
