NIPC News

Design Museum, London Author Anthony O'Neill   Licence CC BY-SA 2.0   Source Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Every so often, the government of the day has a bash at changing design law.  The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 abolished copyright as a means of protecting product designs, introduced a new intellectual property right known as unregistered design right and modified the Registered Designs Act 1949.  That statute was further modified by the Registered Design Regulations, which implemented Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs.  Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs introduced two more IP rights known respectively as registered and unregistered Community designs.  The Intellectual Property Act 2014 brought further modifications to both registered designs and unregistered design rights.  Brexit abolished regist...

Author World Intellectual Property Organization  Licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internat Jane Lambert The Global Innovation Index ("GII") analyses innovation ecosystems across 139 economies, tracking global innovation trends through investment patterns, technological progress, adoption rates, and socioeconomic impact.  The United Kingdom ranked 4th in that index, behind Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States, in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2024, it dropped to 5th, overtaken by Singapore.  In 2025, it was also leapfrogged by South Korea, which rose from 6th in 2024. The UK is ahead of Germany, Japan and France which are now outside the top 10 altogether.  Germany was 9th last year, but has slipped to 11th.  Its position in the top 10 has been taken by Germany. Japan has risen from 13th to 12th.  France has dropped from 12th to 13th (see Figure 1, "The GII Dynamo: The Top 15 Innovators, 2021–2025 "). The performance of each participating count...

By Muhammad Karns - Judicial Office Twitter feed., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78284579 Jane Lambert Earlier today I uploaded to Slideshare a presentation that I gave in February 2023 to members of the University of St Andrews Law Society  entitled A Career at the Bar of England and Wales .  I did so because I get a lot of enquiries on how to make a career in IP, as well as requests for work experience.  I had just come across a website called IP Careers   which lists careers advice , courses ,  jobs  and news .  Its only drawback is that it focuses on opportunities for patent and trade mark attorneys and openings at the Intellectual Property Office and European Patent Office but does not seem to have much for barristers or solicitors specializing in intellectual property. A website that does cover all the intellectual property professions is Careers in Ideas  which is managed by IP Inclusive , a great organizati...

World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva Author Emmanuel Berrod  Licence CC BY-SA 4.0   S ource     Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert I mentioned the government's consultation on standard essential patents in  Latest Consultation on Standard Essential Patent Licensing   on 18 July 2025.  One of the topics is "Tell us how alternative dispute resolution services work for standard essential patent disputes."   According to its "WIPO ADR for FRAND Disputes" page , the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre has administered some 80 WIPO mediation cases relating to FRAND licensing negotiations. Here are examples of some of the disputes that the Centre has handled: "Mediations between large SEP holders and implementers in Asia and Europe to facilitate the agreement of FRAND licensing terms. Requests for WIPO Mediation relating to licensing negotiations between patent pool administrators and implementers in relation to ongoing unsuccessful...

Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Home of  the Small Claims Track Author Skip88   Public Domain   Source  Wikimedia Commons   Jane Lambert Yesterday, HM Courts and Tribunal Service published a Guide to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Small Claims Track  and a glossary of  Common legal terms used in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court .   It aims to help users and potential users of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court ("IPEC") small claims track by giving practical tips.  Although it is primarily intended for litigants in person, intellectual property practitioners will also find it useful.  The guide is divided into the following sections: Introduction About the IPEC and the Small Claims Track How to decide if a claim is suitable for the IPEC Small Claims Trac k What to expect in your dealings with the court     What to do before issuing a claim     The procedure for claims in the IPEC Sma...

By Kai Hendry from London, UK - Televised Star Craft, - Stork vs JJU 1, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2531978   Jane Lambert According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the worldwide e-sports industry is worth over US$200 billion and has about 3 billion players (see James Nurton Game on: Navigating intellectual property in esports ,  10 June 2024 EU IPO website).  The appeal of e-sports is likely to increase with the establishment of the Olympic Esports Games .  A lot of money is invested in branding, technology and content creation, which will be protected by trade marks, patents, copyrights and other intellectual property rights. Infringement and licensing of those rights are likely to give rise to disputes between parties in different countries that cannot conveniently be resolved by litigation.  The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC ) and the World Intellectual Property Organization have recently launched...