Design patents have been making the news. Last summer, Apple’s $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung was famously based, in part, on the finding that Samsung infringed Apple’s rounded-rectangle and edge-to-edge glass designs. Since then, Yamaha, Thule, Oakley, Nike and Spanx, to name just a few, have litigated in the U.S. over the design of headphones, ski racks, sunglasses, footwear and women’s undergarments. And just last month, former head of the USPTO, David Kappos, published an OpEd…

Conveyancing Liability Solutions Limited (CLS) is pleased to announce the launch of TitleChecker®, an innovative new title interrogation report that examines Land Registry records and the relevant sections of the CML Handbook Part 1 and Part 2. TitleChecker® automates the task of reviewing a title and produces a report to identify elements that require attention or further investigation, in a clear and digestible format.

Each TitleChecker® report includes the…

For several years I was the lead attorney at a Taiwan company that manufactures technology and consumer electronic products, from light-emitting diodes to liquid-crystal displays. Every month we received a new demand for patent licensing or indemnification and it was my job to dispose of them at no cost, without licensing, litigation, or outside counsel. Usually it was possible, but occasionally we found ourselves mired in full-blown litigation.

It’s no secret patent litigation costs…

A few months ago, Taiwan’s second largest LCD panel-maker, AU Optronics (AUO), accused two of its former executives of selling AUO’s valuable manufacturing secrets to China’s second largest panel-maker, China Star Optoelectronics. AUO sued and Taiwan’s authorities launched a criminal investigation, but the former workers have both accepted employment with China Star and now AUO will presumably face a tough battle to prevent its competitor from using its secrets.

Some may wonder, if…

One encounters indemnification provisions so often in so many diverse agreements that it’s almost tempting to regard them as routine boilerplate. To do so would be a big mistake. For reference only, below is a basic indemnity provision.

Seller agrees to defend, indemnify and hold Buyer harmless from all claims, actions, losses, damages and attorney fees arising from any breach of this Agreement or any allegation that the Products infringe the intellectual property rights of any third…

The value of all U.S. generated intellectual property is said to be approximately $5.5 trillion, equal to nearly 40% of the U.S. economy. From time to time that value is dramatically demonstrated, such as when Apple wins a $1 billion patent infringement verdict against Samsung, when Nortel sells a portfolio of patents for $4.5 billion, or when Google acquires Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, to gain control of its patents.

However, for many companies the cost of obtaining and…

In this age of endless corporate cost-cutting, it might seem the only way to compel a company to license ones technology is through litigation or threats of litigation. After all, why would a company agree to pay large sums of hard-earned dollars for the use of intangible property unless it absolutely has to?

Well, they do. While patent lawsuits grab the big headlines, plenty of licensing takes place without threats or coercion. Often it results from business discussions between…

If the extreme weather, economic gloom and market uncertainty is getting you down, let me lift your spirits with the thought that now is a time of great opportunity. The ‘digital shift’ to a fully networked society brings change, disruption and the ability to create new, successful business models.

Drawing on our experience working on digital media projects since the late 1990s, most recently as the lead firm on the development of Pottermore, I have written a 24 page White Paper, copy…

The UK’s only intellectual property advisory service tailored to the needs of the creative sector, Own-it, has announced it is expanding its service to Manchester.



The pro bono initiative, which helps creative practitioners and small and medium-sized creative businesses access intellectual property advice…

Internet trolling is no longer part of a sub-culture.

Online bullying of adults and children is soon to reach an 'epidemic' level, because no one is around to enforce any rules.

After the conviction of Sean Duffy at Reading Magistrates' Court in September 2011, I was hopeful that his prosecution and conviction would…

The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) released today is the outcome expected, but may have far reaching consequences comments Michael Forrester of Ralli’s iSolicitors team.

These cases concerned the screening of live premier league football matches in pubs through foreign decoder cards, issued by a Greek broadcaster to subscribers resident in Greece, to access Premier League matches.

The pubs buy a card and a decoder box from a dealer at prices…

A District Court in New York has become the latest to find that using a competitor's trademark in Google's AdWords program can be trademark infringement. District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf found that the Defendants' selection of "PILLOW PETS" and similar marks as a trigger for Google Ads is likely an infringement of the Plaintiff's registered trademarks "MY PILLOW PETS" and "IT'S A PILLOW, IT'S A PET", and granted Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. The case is CJ…

Initially, our new Fee Finance business has been targeted at Accountancy Fee Notes but a number of Legal Firms have approached us for Accreditation. Offering Fee Note Finance with a 48 hour turnaround in payout coupled with a tight Credit Management Procedure has provided us with two USP`s.

I am currently discussing this program with the SRA, not for anything else but for official recognition.

Apart from recommendations, I would welcome any guidance…

Microsoft has recently tested a new system of advertising whereby ads are not placed on top of the organic search results, nor to the side, nor on a colored background, but actually within the list of organic results.  Is this a smart move?  Will Microsoft find itself on the end of a (meritorious) lawsuit for trademark infringement or unfair competition?  Probably not.  

The news of this new approach broke on the …

GigaOm is reporting that many companies were in the race to buy Motorola Mobility, including Microsoft. GigaOm contributes this as one of the reasons why Google made the purchase for such a high price ($12.5 billion, that’s $40 per share, 60% higher than the company’s closing price as of Friday), so other manufacturers couldn’t hurt their ecosystem even further with IP lawsuits.



The reason Motorola didn’t go with Microsoft was due to the fact Microsoft only wanted the company for…

In a decision that is already attracting plenty of controversy, comments, compliments and complaints, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held that isolated human DNA molecules are patentable, and were validly patented by Myriad, under the (US) Patents Act.  See Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc et al. (Case No 2010-1406, Decided July 29, 2011).  The decision reverses in part and affirms in part the decision of Judge…