Herbert Smith Freehills' European IP team have had a feature article on the EU's IP Action Plan published in the April edition of PLC Magazine – see EU Action Plan on IP – the challenge ahead here. The article looks at the current challenges for the EU in relation to IP, its key focus areas and plans for future regulation and legislation, including: • The Unified Patent Court (UPC) • Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) • Compulsory licensing • Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) • AI and emerging technologies • Counterfeiting • Designs • Geographical Indications • Data • The Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe Read more

The final Brexit agreement, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was agreed between the UK and the EU on 24 December 2020. Within this agreement are provisions that set out the standards expected to be recognised (mutually) between the EU and the UK in relation to intellectual property (including SPCs and trade secrets). There are some provisions concerning pharmaceutical regulation and product standards, but overall there is a lack of mutual recognition, with the consequence that, for both pharmaceuticals and medical devices, there are now effectively two separate regimes for the EU and the UK. Read more

Today, the German Bundesrat (the upper house of the German Parliament) passed the Unified Patent Court (UPC) legislation, bringing us one step closer to the start of the UPC. To come into force, the law will now have to be signed by the Federal Government, the Federal President and, finally, published in the Federal Law … Read more

We have previously discussed the changes to the regulation of medical devices both in the UK and the European Union in our May 2020 blog post here.  This post provides an update on the UK Medicines and Medical Devices Bill (the UK Bill), post-Brexit transition period guidance in the UK on the regulation of medical … Read more

Consumer confidence in the origins and safety of the food they purchase and consume is a significant aspect of food brand protection and longevity. Maintaining that confidence involves the use of many different strategies, rights and regulatory controls at national and international level. In Trust on a plate: consumer confidence and food safety, the latest briefing in our Future of Consumer series, contributors Italy, Australia, the UK, China, Indonesia and across the EU cover food trust issues including geographical indications, labelling, supply chain transparency and food crime. Read more

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) took another step closer to coming into being on November 26 with a Bundestag vote passing the legislation necessary for Germany to ratify the UPC Agreement and the Protocol on Provisional Application with (more than) the two thirds majority found to be required by the German Federal Constitutional Court in … Read more

Geographical indications have been receiving increasing levels of attention recently: The UK has announced a new system for GIs which will come into effect at the end of the Brexit transition period (see our post here); the EU has recently concluded an agreement on the mutual recognition of GIs with China (see more on this … Read more

Paediatric Investigation Plans The legal requirements for UK Paediatric Investigation Plans (PIPs) from 1 January 2021 are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, as amended by the Human Medicines Regulations (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Under the Human Medicines Regulations, results from an agreed PIP must be included in an application for … Read more