After a rigorous process that involved surveys, interviews and extensive research, three of Wynne-Jones IP’s Partners have been listed as ‘IP Stars’ in Managing Intellectual Property’s 2016 World IP Survey.
The United Kingdom (UK) has voted to leave the European Union (EU) and the process to formally withdraw the UK’s membership of the EU has now started. This process is expected to take several years, during which time the UK will remain part of the EU. Nevertheless, as intellectual property (IP) law is one of the areas that is affected by the decision, we wish to take this opportunity to clarify how the decision affects our clients and associates.
As many people may be aware, on Thursday 23 June 2016, a historic Referendum will take place in which the UK public will decide on the UK’s future membership of the European Union. The outcome as to whether the UK will leave (a so called “Brexit”) or remain (“Bremain”) is expected on Friday the 24th June 2016. Wynne-Jones IP is uniquely positioned, whatever the outcome, to continue to support our clients needs by virtue of our AIPEX European Alliance. We will ensure that we continue to be able to file and prosecute “Pan-European” IP applications such as European Patents, European Union Trade Marks and Registered Community Designs.
On Christmas Eve revised legislation was published, which will come into effect on 23 March 2016, making a number of changes to the existing Community Trade Mark system. The question is, as owners of such rights, or potential applicants, will these changes impact on you?
In many countries, including the UK, one of the cornerstones of the patent system is that you should apply for a patent before disclosing your invention publicly. This is because the ‘self-disclosure’ can be used to invalidate a subsequently filed patent application. That’s a horrible situation, because you may have really shot yourself in the foot in terms of getting patent protection in the UK and many other countries. For this reason, we firmly advise that you keep the invention secret before filing a patent application on the invention. But in the real world these things can happen. So what can you do if you’ve accidentally disclosed your invention before you’ve filed a patent application?