Utynam's Heirs

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cookies Settings

Utynam's Heirs

Managing IP Correspondent
March 31 2010

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam – who received the world’s first recorded patent in 1449

Unlock this content.

The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers.

To unlock this content:

Take a Free Trial or Login
managing-ip.png
Managing IP Correspondent
Contact
more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Trademarks
Conceptual 3D render of a lightbulb with a hybrid AI brain, half circuit and half organic, floating in a pastel sky. Creative intelligence metaphor.
Exclusive: optimism for ‘hybrid’ AI adoption prevails
Viji Krishnan of Corsearch unpicks the results of a survey that reveals almost 80% of trademark practitioners believe in a hybrid AI model for trademark clearance and searches
Viji Krishnan, December 19 2025
Patents
New York, USA - 30 August 2024: Getty Logo on Phone Screen, Company Icon on Display
This week on MIP: Getty allowed to appeal AI ruling | Nokia receives SEP blow
News of Via Licensing Alliance selling its HEVC/VCC pools and a $1.5 million win for Davis Polk were also among the top talking points
Max Walters, December 19 2025
Trademarks
Warsaw, Poland - July 03, 2025: Warner Bros. Discovery
Weekly take: Why Warner Bros battle should prompt AI licensing deal
The winner of a high-profile bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery may gain a strategic advantage far greater than mere subscriber growth - IP licensing leverage
Sanjana Mishra, December 19 2025
Patents
Businessmen making handshake with partner, greeting, dealing, me
Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader to merge in ‘largest combination in history’
A vote to be held in 2026 could create Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, a $3.6bn giant with 3,100 lawyers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific
Noemi Distefano, December 18 2025
Copyright
Illuminating Network: A network of glowing lines converges and diverges, forming a luminous, intricate web in a modern architectural setting.
AI divergence: why Germany and the UK are on different paths
Varuni Paranavitane of Finnegan and IP counsel Lisa Ribes compare and contrast two recent AI copyright decisions from Germany and the UK
Lisa Ribes, December 18 2025
Trademarks
France.jpg
Clients urge French firms to raise bills proportionate to work done
Exclusive in-house data uncovered by Managing IP reveals French firms underperform on providing value equivalent to billing costs and technology use
Sukanya Sarkar, December 18 2025
Patents
Chess pieces strategically placed on a detailed map of europe in a conceptual game of strategy
Playing the UPC game: Hoffmann Eitle responds to market shake-up
The new court has drastically changed the German legal market, and the Munich-based firm, with two recent partner hires, is among those responding
December 18 2025
Patents
Samsung-comp.jpg
UPC update: Samsung time-barred | court accepts service on Chinese defendant
Consultation feedback on mediation and arbitration rules and hires for Marks & Clerk and Heuking were also among the major talking points
December 18 2025
Patents
N Groombridge Headshot.png
‘You will never get bored’: Groombridge Wu founder on building a firm
Nick Groombridge shares how an accidental turn into patent law informed his approach to building a practice based on flexibility and balancing client and practitioner needs
Sanjana Mishra, December 17 2025
Patents
White_Ed_500x500.jpg
‘Roll the dice more’: the business of innovation
Clarivate’s Ed White discusses the joy of measuring innovation and why patent attorneys are a special breed
December 17 2025
Gift this article