The Nagoya Protocol and the UK – Are you Compliant?
The Nagoya Protocol has been in force in the UK since October 2015 and obliges users of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources to comply with due diligence requirements before its...
EU-wide IP Expertise is essential to the life science industry post-Brexit
The UK is world-renowned for its progressive life science and healthcare sectors, which are at the forefront of technical innovation, research excellence, and pioneering treatments.
Life science companies, research and development facilities, scientists and academics...
Know your third party patent rights
In the competitive world of the biosciences, third party patent rights (TPRs) can stand in the way of a planned course of action, even after significant investment has been made. Knowledge of such rights...
Creating a Corona Vaccine
Varuni Paranavitane, IP Solicitor, AA Thornton.
As the world faces unprecedented challenges caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus, we look at the science behind vaccine technology being investigated and how intellectual property rights may play a part...
Access to Intellectual Property (IP) Rights in a Time of Emergency – Patent Pools...
Alex Bone, Patent Attorney, Partner, AA Thornton
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is often accused of misusing IP to extend exclusivity and delay reasonably priced access to life saving technologies. The recent pandemic has focussed attention...
Considering a pharma and bioscience patent? The UK Intellectual Property Office maps out the...
Lawrence Cullen & Laura Starrs, Patent Examining Group Heads, IPO
Managing a patent portfolio requires, among many skills, the ability to anticipate the future. This is especially true in the fields of bioscience and pharma where,...
How intellectual property can help 3D printing support, not harm, medtech
3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is frequently, and rightly, hailed as the next revolution in technology.
Since its inception in 1986, 3D printing has transformed numerous sectors including aviation, manufacturing, and energy, and altered perceptions...
Biosimilars and Patents
Leonita Paulraj - Associate, AA Thornton
The majority of the world’s biggest selling medicines can be classified as “biologics” or “biopharmaceuticals”. Such medicines contain one or more biologically active product produced from (or containing components of)...
Is your IP Strategy fit for purpose? – Five Questions to Ask Yourself
As a result of the lockdown due to the global pandemic there is a greater need and renewed focus on using innovation to kick-start the economic recovery. The result is significant investment in R&D...
Patenting aerospace medicines – the final frontier?
Research and development (R&D) into aerospace medicine can be viewed as falling into one of two camps: that aimed at adapting an existing ‘terrestrial’ medicine for use in the aerospace environment; and that which...
Why is Diligent Due Diligence Important?
Alex Bone, Patent Attorney, Partner, AA Thornton.
Background
Biopharma merger and acquisition activity was lower in 2021 than in recent years, but the top 10 deals still reached a combined value of over $50 billion. The main...
Protecting Digital Medtech Innovation
For many years the medical technology (medtech) sector has been at the forefront of innovation and the Covid-19 pandemic has not slowed it down, with new technology quickly being developed to test for, prevent...
Preparations for AI patenting in Europe
The current era of rapid technological development requires industry to be quick to respond to challenges and opportunities, with many choosing to exploit new AI technologies rather than wait to be disrupted by competitors.
Intellectual...
Are your innovations protected?
Innovation is something that defines the biosciences sector.
The UK biotechnology and medical industries are among some of the most progressive in the world with billions invested annually on creating industry-leading drugs, techniques, therapies, and...
Plant patentability and the European Patent Office – what is the latest update?
Plant patentability has long been a contentious issue throughout intellectual property and scientific circles.
The question as to whether plants or animals created through essentially biological processes, such as genetic or selective breeding, can be...
UK Supreme Court inflicts more patent pain on Warner-Lambert
Eilidh Pugh, Pharmaceutical Patent Attorney, AdamsonJones.
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its much-anticipated decision in WarnerLambert Company LLC v Generics (UK) Ltd t/a Mylan and Actavis. The case is important because it is the...