News

Spring Update on the Patenting of Plants

The patentability of plants has been a long running legal and political saga at the EPO. Following an intervention this month by the president of the EPO, it appears uncertainty in this area is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

Huw Jenkins: Shaping something new

Patent attorney Huw Jenkins has a degree in cell and molecular biology and a DPhil in developmental genetics from Oxford University. Huw started training in 2011 as a patent attorney in London and joined Secerna in 2018. He tells us why he made the move from a career in academia to patent law and what, in his view, makes the role so worthwhile.

Genentech loses patent life for wet AMD blockbuster

On 31 March 2020, The Court of Appeal of England and Wales published its unanimous judgement on Genentech, Inc (and Master Data Center, Inc) v The Comptroller General of Patents - [2020] EWCA Civ 475 in which it confirmed a High Court ruling deciding that Genentech could not correct a mistake made by one of its agents that would lead to the early expiry of a valuable Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).

Future of Energy Systems Masterclass - Wednesday 27 March 2019, ORE Catapult, Blyth

Senior associate Sam Bloor will be speaking at the Future of Energy Systems Masterclass at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult in Blyth on 27 March.

Double Trouble at the EPO

A recent referral in T0318/14 (Nestec S.A.) to the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) seeks to clarify the extent to which the EPO can refuse to grant a patent application claiming subject-matter which is the same as subject-matter claimed in a European patent that has already been granted and which has the same effective filing date (a situation often referred to as ‘double patenting’).

Jonathan Roberts: Feeding an appetite for tech

A Formstein Defence in the UK: A Way to Fight Off Equivalents?

The decision of the Supreme Court in Actavis UK Ltd v Eli Lilly and Company [2017] UKSC 48 has resulted in a sea change for the law of patent infringement in the United Kingdom. In that decision, the Supreme Court introduced an essentially new two-step test for assessing infringement; where the first step requires a normal interpretation of the claims and the second step takes due account of equivalents. Since this decision, UK patent practitioners have been keen to obtain some valuable insight into how the UK courts are going to approach patent infringement in the future.

Welcoming new trainees to the team

We’re very pleased to welcome Doctors of Philosophy Daniel Pingstone and Thomas Kennelly to the Secerna team to support a growing worldwide client base of multi-national corporations, FTSE and NYSE listed companies, universities, spin-out companies, small businesses and innovators.

Supreme Court Decision confirms pregabalin invalidity

The Supreme Court has recently published its decision in the case of Warmer-Lambert Company LLCC v Generics (UK) Ltd t/a Mylan and another.