Inside IP Spring 2025

A word from our editors Kirsty Dolphin and Simon Taor

Welcome to our Inside IP Spring 2025 Edition!

This edition is packed with our latest insights on sector trends, along with updates on trade marks, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). We trust you’ll find these topics engaging. Should you require further information or wish to discuss any of the subjects in more detail, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team covering both the UK and the EU. Remember, we’re always just an email or phone call away.

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Interview with our Managing Partner Siân Gill
In celebration of International Women’s Day, two of our trainees had the opportunity to sit down with our female Managing Partner, Siân Gill, to discuss her inspiring journey in intellectual property. From her early interest in technology and inventions to her transition into leadership roles, Siân shared valuable insights into her career path.

Gender disparity in patent inventorship and ownership
Technological innovation is key for fostering societal growth and development while also stimulating the economy. However, a significant gender disparity persists in inventorship and patent ownership worldwide. Although there has been notable progress in recent years, in 2022, women constituted only 17% of international patent holders, leaving men overwhelmingly dominant at 83%.

Advancements in Cervical Cancer Screening
In 2020 the World Health Organisation launched the Cervical Cancer Elimination initiative and as January marked Cervical Cancer awareness month, Jess Wilkinson looked into the innovative ways inventors and businesses are making it easier for women to be regularly screened.

It’s fashionable to be patentable!
Innovators have, for centuries, addressed fashion problems including ruffs smelling of urine or invasive bustles, and have filed patents to protect their inventions. Catrin Petty, delves into the history of patenting fashion, and discovers one of the first women to hold a patent!

Biomass as a renewable energy source
As part of our series of articles relating to clean technology, we focus this time on biomass and how recent innovations have improved this as a renewable energy source as well as trends in patent application filings.

Update on EU Design Reform
The long-awaited EU Design Reform brings forward a number of changes to various aspects of design law. Fabian Bor and George Hudson outline some of the significant changes which will be in force by the “applicability date” on 1st May 2025. These changes include fee changes, updates to the examination processes, and the new registered design symbol.

2025 guideline updates to EPO and UKIPO 
In January 2025, the European Patent Office (EPO) published updated Guidelines for Examination set to enter into force on 1 April 2025. Mike Jennings lists the key changes that may affect you.

Navigating AI Patents: key updates from EPO and UKIPO Guidelines
Following on from the article, ‘Summary of EPO updates’, Mike Jennings looks into the key updates that relate to AI that both the EPO and the UKIPO included in their Guidelines for 2025. The UKIPO added some guidance to its examiners for quantum computing.

Amending amendments to the patent at the UPC
UPC proceedings require parties to set out their position as early as possible, but when a patentee faces a validity challenge they do not always know which arguments will be successful. This creates a difficulty for the patentee in anticipating the potential amendments to the patent they may wish to submit to the court. Mahdi Godazgar and Peter Thorniley review how early decisions of the UPC have begun to establish a framework under which a patentee can present, and perhaps later adjust, their case.

Legal update on the application of the EUIPO’s Similarity Tool
For many years, parties involved in trade mark disputes have turned to EU Intellectual Property Office’s Similarity Tool for guidance on assessing the similarity of goods and services. However, a recent decision from the EUIPO confirms that the findings of the Tool are now binding, rather than not merely indicative. In this article, Suzanne Power considers the consequences of that decision.

Trademarking in the Metaverse: EU General Court contradicts current EU IPO practice on virtual goods
How to apply existing IP laws and principles in the new digital world continues to be a hot topic. In our latest article relating to trade marks in the metaverse, we look at a recent General Court decision which contradicts the current EU IPO guidelines relating to the assessment of virtual goods.

Absolutely not registrable: Spring 2025
Reviewing the kinds of trade mark applications rejected by the UK IPO can help us to monitor changes in practice over time. In our Absolutely Not Registrable series of articles, we provide round ups of some of the most interesting UK trade mark refusals which have issued from the UK IPO each season. In our Spring 2025 edition, we see some helpful reminders on slogan marks and registration of company names as trade marks.

When the Court of Appeal gives you a lemon, don’t make lemon cider
Lookalike branding has long been a thorn in the side of established brands who can spend decades advertising and educating consumers about their product only for a lookalike to piggy-back on their efforts. On the other hand, consumers seem to love being able to choose cheaper products in knowledge of their characteristics as imparted by the established brand. A recent Court of Appeal decision could have important ramifications for both established and lookalike brands operating within the lucrative UK FMCG market.

Is it time for Aldi to rebrand its lookalike strategy?
The conversation around the use of copycat packaging within the FMCG sphere has been a big topic in the legal industry in recent years. Following on from Jay’s ‘When the Court of Appeal gives you lemons’ article, Sarah Neil askes the question, does Aldi’s approach of using third-party brands as a starting point, still wash?

Added bonus? Extension of European Union Trade Marks and Designs in Europe and beyond
European Union trade mark and design registrations granted by the EUIPO provide protection throughout the European Union. Mechthild Liebelt marks out which jurisdictions the EU intellectual property rights extend to.

VS News
A round-up of the latest Venner Shipley news.