As James Bond’s 1989 adventure Licence to Kill, in which a special permit confers extraordinary authority upon its bearer, Brexit has furnished British patentees with a renewed licence to navigate Europe’s patent landscape under distinct rules. While the European Patent Convention (EPC) remains intact—Britain never exited that treaty—patentees domiciled in the UK now confront separate validation…
This year, at the Annual Fordham IP Law & Policy Conference, we heard Lord Justice Birss reflect on how we are living through a transformative era in intellectual property (IP) law. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), some voices have gone so far as to call for the abolition of IP rights altogether. Yet,…
Defining antibodies by functional features is not always straightforward at the EPO. T326/22 is a nice example of how this can be achieved. To briefly recap the standard EPO approach, an antibody may generally be claimed by reference to its epitope, i.e. the structurally defined part of the antigen that it specifically binds to…
Like Corto Maltese charting forgotten seas, the UK now sails through uncertain waters in the shifting landscape of European patent litigation. Brexit did not bring about a complete rupture but rather a complex reconfiguration of balances and strategies. Caught between aspirations for strengthened judicial sovereignty and a European reality structured without it, the UK is…
This year, at the Annual Fordham IP Law & Policy Conference, we heard Lord Justice Birss reflect on how we are living through a transformative era in intellectual property (IP) law. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), some voices have gone so far as to call for the abolition of IP rights altogether. Yet,…
Tempus fugit. It’s hard to believe that the UPC opened for business over two years ago and, after a relatively slow start, is now flourishing. It would be fair to say that, with certain notable exceptions, life sciences companies have not engaged with the UPC as enthusiastically as other sectors to date. Therefore certain issues…
On May 27, 2025, the Intellectual Property High Court of Japan ruled in favor of Toray Industries, Inc. in a landmark patent infringement lawsuit (Case No. 2021 (Ne) 10037) concerning the extended patent rights for the antipruritic agent “Remitch®” (nalfurafine). The court ordered two generic companies, Sawai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Fuso Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.,…
One of the most highly debated issues at the UPC before its commencement was the question, how the UPC would deal with validity of patents – would it essentially take over the EPO’s course? Or would it deviate from that? From the first judgments, many commentators drew the conclusion that at least when it comes…
Yesterday, I shared some early figures from the UPC Court of Appeal, offering a glimpse into how the Court operates two years after its launch. But those reflections lingered long after I closed my laptop. They kept me up — long enough to return to a thornier, more theoretical question that has remained unresolved since…
Introduction: A Concert Interrupted Imagine a Rammstein concert—tight rhythms, explosive precision, and overwhelming power. That’s what many expected from the German divisions of the UPC: efficiency, control, and dominance. But two years into the life of the Court of Appeal, that expectation has begun to unravel. What we see instead is a more nuanced performance—less…
