NIPC News

Jane Lambert In a press release published yesterday, the European Patent Office announced a visit by Tim Moss, the Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks,  and Sean Dennehey  to the European Patent Office (see  Meeting with UK Intellectual Property Office highlights role of patents in supporting innovation   26 March 2018).  According to the press release, the Comptroller and Mr Dennehey met the EPO President Benoît Battistelli. The Comptroller and President discussed recent developments in IPO, including the EPO annual report, bilateral co-operation and preparations for setting up the new unitary patent system. The EPO Vice-President updated the British delegation on such topics as search and examination, digital systems, the EPO's quality management system, and European and international co-operation.  Apparently, "a new and ambitious strategy for the UK IPO, a key element of which is to draw upon the knowledge...

Jane Lambert Instead of reflecting on a brilliant performance of  Swan Lake at the Lowry by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, I spent much of Thursday evening reading Justice for Wales. That is the title of a pamphlet written by Sir Roderick Evans QC and others calling for the establishment of a separate judiciary and court system for Wales.  My copy came from my good friend and colleague David Hughes who is a member of my chambers'  intellectual property team . I googled "Sir Roderick Evans QC" and "Justice for Wales" but was unable to find the publication on the worldwide web. The nearest I came was  Top lawyers campaign for a separate justice system for Wales   23 Sept 2015 Wales on Line . The pamphlet makes a good case for the reform of the English and Welsh justice system generally. For instance: "In its report entitled ‘Doing Business 2015’, the World Bank ranked the UK only 36th in the world for ‘Enforcing Contracts – how judicial efficien...