Insights

Articles Mar292023

Lessons to be learnt from Dragons’ Den: a practical guide for brand owners

In this article, trade mark attorney and associate Hannah Burrows provides practical tips for brand owners, based on issues that commonly crop up in the BBC’s ‘Dragons’ Den’

Articles Mar032023

2020 spike in biodegradable plastics innovation ends two decades of decline in patent applications

Appleyard Lees’ ‘Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report 2022’ revealed a significant increase in patent filings related to biodegradable plastics in recent years.

Articles Feb242023

Are fanciful logos no longer in fashion?

Associate and trade mark attorney Hannah Burrows discusses how major luxury fashion labels appear to have moved from fanciful logos, with significant stylisation being stripped back in favour of simpler fonts.

Articles Feb102023

NFTs, blockchain and IP – part 3: a summary of recent key NFT disputes

In part three of this series, we look at recent legal disputes involving NFTs (ongoing and settled), that present new, unique intellectual property issues.

Articles Feb072023

T 0702/20: patentability of a sparsely connected neural network

Senior associate and patent attorney Paul Roscoe discusses T 0702/20, and the implications it could have on AI patent applications at the EPO.

Articles Jan262023

UK registered trade mark and design holders must have a UK address for service

On 25 January 2023, the UK IPO issued a notice with immediate effect to say that the registrar will require a UK address for service (AFS) before any documents are considered formally served.

Articles Dec012022

Plastics recycling patent filings hit worldwide peak in 2020

In the 2022 edition of Appleyard Lees' Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report, our attorneys analysed patent filings across several key environmental issues facing the world, including energy, materials, and alternative proteins and food production.

Articles Nov172022

Green hydrogen patent filings on upward trajectory

This year’s report on energy revealed green hydrogen patent filings are reaching global highs.

Articles Nov032022

Amazon found to target UK consumers by Court of Appeal

Intellectual property rights are territorial in nature, subject to the laws of individual countries, sitting within the constraints of jurisdictional boundaries. When does selling goods online, to another foreign jurisdiction, constitute trade mark infringement?

Podcast Oct132022

The Greenshoots Podcast by Appleyard Lees – episode 32 – understanding the UK IPO’s latest guidance on AI patent applications

In this episode, senior associate and patent attorney Paul Roscoe, and associate Matthew Bennett, give an in-depth analysis of the new UK IPO guidance, and what it means for those seeking to protect AI innovation.

Articles Oct032022

Patents at the intersection of AI and transport: improving the journey from patent filing to grant

It is no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have enabled innovation to grow in myriad application fields. The European Patent Office (EPO) considers applications relating to core AI techniques to be unpatentable. The application of AI and ML techniques to certain fields may be more successful at the EPO if the field is per se considered “technical”.