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...
Shanks v Unilever – An opening of the claim floodgates?
Varuni Paranavitane, IP Solicitor, AA Thornton
At the end of last year Professor Shanks was awarded £2 million for an invention relating to a glucose sensor made while employed working for Unilever. What does this mean...
Is your Invention Plausible?
Alex Bone, Patent Attorney, Partner, AA Thornton
The market exclusivity provided by a patent can be crucial for allowing a company to obtain a return on their R&D investment.
A patent is essentially a deal in which,...
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...
Freedom to Operate – Understanding the Risks
There are many factors to be considered for a project developing a new product or process, but the ability to carry out commercial plans without infringing third party patent rights (freedom to operate, or...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...