Apple, Qualcomm, Sir Paul McCartney, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Star Trek, TTAB, Niro Law – the week in IP

January 25 2017

An Apple lawsuit against Qualcomm, Sir Paul McCartney’s efforts to regain ownership over Beatles songs, a $625m Merck patent settlement with Bristol-Myers Squibb, a Star Trek copyright lawsuit, the end of Niro Law, and the top 10 TTAB decisions of 2016 were in the recent intellectual property headlines

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Topics

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Trademarks

Brass scales of justice balancing digital technology and human brain on wooden desk in law office representing AI ethics and legal decision making.

How to survive the AI revolution

There are some impressive AI tools available for trademark lawyers, but law firm leaders say humans can still outthink the bots

February 16 2026

Patents

Tesla v Avanci: UK Supreme Court to face untested FRAND question

Lawyers at Simmons & Simmons look ahead to a UK Supreme Court hearing in which the court will consider whether English courts can determine FRAND terms when the licence is offered by an intermediary rather than an SEP owner

Joel Smith, February 16 2026

Patents

Breaking: Taylor Wessing’s first hire post-merger vote is IP partner

Firm says appointment of Jeremy Drew from RPC will help create ‘unrivalled IP powerhouse’, as it looks to shore up IP offering ahead of merger

Max Walters, February 16 2026

Patents

‘Renewed interest’: firms bulk up ITC expertise as work increases

Law firms are expanding their ITC practices to account for the venue’s growing popularity, and some are seeing an opportunity to collaborate with M&A teams

Sanjana Mishra, February 16 2026

Trademarks

PTAB powerhouse eyes trademark expansion

Erise IP has added a seven-practitioner trademark team from Hovey Williams, signalling its intention to help clients at all stages of development

Sanjana Mishra, February 13 2026

Patents

This week on MIP: UK publishers go after Anthropic, Meta | WIPO chief nears re-election

News of prison sentences for ex-Samsung executives for trade secrets violation and an opposition filed by Taylor Swift were also among the top talking points

Sukanya Sarkar, February 13 2026

Patents

UPC update: Loctite claim hits sticking point | EPO wins unitary effect tussle

A multijurisdictional claim filed by InterDigital and a new spin-off firm in Germany were also among the top talking points

February 12 2026

Patents

Weekly take: Practitioners must keep pace with SE Asia’s IP modernisation

Duarte Lima, MD of Spruson & Ferguson’s Asia practice, says practitioners must adapt to process changes within IP systems, as well as be mindful of the implications of tech on their practices

Duarte Lima, February 12 2026

Patents

Futuristic robot standing in front of big ben in london, representing artificial intelligence in the uk

Reaction: UK positions itself as ‘AI-friendly’ post Supreme Court ruling

Practitioners say the UK Supreme Court’s decision could boost the attractiveness of the UK for AI companies

Max Walters, February 12 2026

Managing IP Awards

Copy of MIP Americas Awards 2026 (1).png

Managing IP Americas Awards 2026: shortlist revealed

New awards, including US ‘Firm of the Year’ and Latin America ‘Firm to Watch’, are among more than 90 prizes that will recognise firms and practitioners

Sanjana Mishra, February 11 2026