A Venetian Surprise: Does the UPCA Transitional Period Really Require an Opt-Out to Access National Courts?
The Court of Venice issued a December 2025 ruling that a national court cannot hear a European patent infringement case unless the patentee has formally opted out of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The decision interprets Article 83 of the UPCA as granting exclusive jurisdiction to the UPC, with national courts only accessible through a registered waiver. This reading clashes with the prevailing view that the seven‑year transitional period allows parallel proceedings in national courts and the UPC. If the ruling gains traction, patentees could lose the flexibility they relied on during the transition.
Patenting the Use of Medical Devices (T 0941/24)
The EPO Board of Appeal in case T 0941/24 overturned the examining division’s refusal of EP 3332729, a BrainLab patent for a dual‑sensor medical tracking system. By interpreting the claim language narrowly, the Board concluded that the method does not implicitly involve...
Never Too Late: If You Missed the IPKat Last Week!
The IPKat’s weekly roundup recaps several high‑profile IP developments across Europe and the UK. Notable cases include the German court’s invalidation of the Neuschwansteiner beverage trademark, a Spanish court’s refusal to deem the Frisby brand “well‑known,” and a UK High...
The Claude Code Leak that Spurred 8,100 DMCA Takedown Notices
Anthropic unintentionally released a 59.8 MB dump of Claude Code containing 512,000 lines of TypeScript that orchestrates its agentic prompting system. In response, the company filed roughly 8,100 DMCA takedown notices targeting direct copies of the code on GitHub. The open‑source...
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall — Who Is the Most Distinctive of Them All?
The CJEU is examining a Hungarian trademark application that uses a photorealistic portrait of a lawyer as a figurative mark for classes 9 and 45. The court is asked whether the EU Trade Mark Directive bars registration of such images and whether...
ERA Summer Course on European Intellectual Property Law Returns to Trier with IPKat Readers’ Discount
The European Law Institute (ERA) is hosting its Summer Course on European Intellectual Property Law in Trier, offering a comprehensive curriculum that spans EU and international frameworks, trademarks, designs, geographical indications, copyright, patents, SPCs, the Unified Patent Court, and licensing....
Fordham 33 (Report 8): IP in Washington
At Fordham’s 33rd IP Conference, a panel discussed how intellectual‑property policy is shaped in Washington, D.C. Panelists from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, High Tech Inventors Alliance, and House and Senate Judiciary committees identified Congress members, staff, and corporate sponsors...
Fordham 33 (Report 7): IP and Frontier Technologies
The Fordham 33 IP conference panel, chaired by Joshua Simmons, examined how frontier technologies, especially generative AI, are reshaping intellectual‑property law. Panelists from OpenAI, academia, and the federal judiciary noted that copyright, not patent law, now dominates regulatory concerns for AI...
Fordham 33 (Report 6): Unified Patent Court
The Fordham IP Conference’s 33rd‑annual panel dissected the Unified Patent Court (UPC), covering its jurisdiction, remedies, and future trajectory. Speakers highlighted the UPC’s cross‑border injunctions and rapid judgments as major benefits, while noting challenges for small firms and pharmaceutical companies...
Human Definitions versus Biological Reality (T 630/24)
The EPO’s Board of Appeal dismissed the University of Tokyo’s appeal in T 630/24, finding that the claim’s reference to *Clostridium* clusters IV and XIVa added matter beyond the original disclosure limited to the *Clostridium* genus. The board applied the strict “gold standard”...
Never Too Late: If You Missed the IPKat Last Week!
The IPKat’s weekly roundup surveyed pivotal IP rulings and policy shifts. In copyright, the Supreme Court’s Cox v Sony decision narrowed ISP liability to actual knowledge of infringement, while the CJEU’s Pelham II judgment clarified the EU definition of “pastiche” for...
Saturday Sundries
Several high‑profile IP events are slated for spring 2026, including the European Copyright Society’s 10th annual conference at the Château de Versailles on May 29, focusing on AI, cultural heritage and licensing. The OxFora 14th Intellectual Property and Competition Forum will...
Help Us UK Supreme Court, You’re Our only Hope (for Digital Replicas)
The UK Court of Appeal dismissed Tyburn Film Productions' claim that Lucasfilm unjustly enriched itself by digitally recreating Peter Cushing’s likeness in *Rogue One*. Tyburn argued that a 1993 agreement gave it a commercial veto right over any post‑mortem use of...
Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation in Europe Conference Returns with IPKat Readers’ Discount
The Pharma & Biotech Patent Litigation in Europe conference returns for a two‑day session in central Amsterdam. Organisers highlight a special 10% discount for IPKat readers using code D10‑999‑IPKAT26. The agenda tackles hot topics such as cross‑border enforcement after the...
Crystal Bar: Contempt Application Against Litigant and Its Lawyers Struck Out
The High Court dismissed a contempt application filed by Bargain Busting Ltd against Shenzhen SKE Technology Ltd and its counsel, finding no public‑interest justification. The underlying dispute concerns trademark rights to “CRYSTAL BAR” for vape products, with the UK Intellectual Property...