United Kingdom: Intellectual Property

The ongoing commercial rivalry between fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu has evolved into one of the most significant intellectual property disputes in the e-commerce sector. This landmark case examines critical questions about copyright ownership, platform liability, and the legal responsibilities of online marketplaces in the digital age.

The UK High Court has delivered a landmark ruling on online marketplace liability, dismissing Shein's copyright infringement claims against Temu and clarifying when platforms can be held responsible for third-party content. The judgment examines the boundaries of copyright ownership in complex supply chains and establishes important precedents for how marketplace operators should respond to infringement allegations.

For many years, counterfeits were viewed as a problem primarily affecting luxury brands. Typically associated with fake designer handbags sold in street markets, enforcement strategies focused on identifying and dismantling relatively limited networks of infringers.

A UK court has ruled on the validity of Novartis's supplementary protection certificate for Entresto, examining whether the SPC product should be defined as the specific co-complex formulation or the broader...

Expanding into international markets requires more than product development and marketing strategy. Many businesses overlook critical trade mark protection, risking expensive rebranding, legal disputes, and delayed market entry when their brand names conflict with existing registrations or carry unintended meanings abroad. Understanding territorial trade mark rights and implementing proactive filing strategies can prevent these costly mistakes before they derail your global expansion plans.

For many years, counterfeits were viewed as a problem primarily affecting luxury brands. Typically associated with fake designer handbags sold in street markets, enforcement strategies focused on identifying and dismantling relatively limited networks of infringers.

For companies developing advanced materials, battery technologies, and green technologies, the journey from laboratory proof-of-concept to commercial manufacturing often reveals the most valuable patentable inventions. Scale-up challenges involving heat transfer, particle morphology, coating uniformity, and manufacturing economics can create intellectual property that proves more commercially significant than the original laboratory discovery.

Sustainability is no longer a niche concern within the cosmetics and skincare sector. Increasingly, brands are being challenged by consumers, retailers and regulators to reduce waste and demonstrate meaningful environmental credentials.

The European Patent Office Board of Appeal has issued a surprising judgment demonstrating how adding a manufacturing step to a computer-aided design method can paradoxically extend patent scope post-grant. This case explores the intricate relationship between process claims and product protection under Article 64(2) EPC...

For many businesses, the biggest threat to a future investment, acquisition or exit is not financial performance but whether they can clearly evidence ownership and control of the assets driving value. Increasingly, those assets are intellectual property, software, data and digital infrastructure, yet many organisations have far less clarity on ownership than leadership teams realise.

Imagine an invention machine that is capable of analysing all published human scientific knowledge and then extrapolating forward. If this invention machine were then to publish its own predictions of, say, future materials, hypothetical drug compounds, or improved cell-based therapies, could this prevent future innovations from being patented?

Chemistry start-ups face critical decisions when building patent portfolios that can determine their commercial success. From timing patent applications before public disclosures...