This week on MIP: UK firms get Indian market boost | WIPO AI data

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

This week on MIP: UK firms get Indian market boost | WIPO AI data

India UK.jpeg

We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP

India to update legal market rules to favour UK firms

The Bar Council of India said regulations governing the entry and practice conditions of foreign firms in the country will be updated to only allow UK firms and lawyers to enter the market for the time being.

A new set of rules, likely to be released later this month, will modify previous rules released in March last year, the council reportedly said during a meeting in London in late June.

The meeting was held alongside the Law Society and Bar Council of England and Wales.

To read the full article, click here.

Fewer hurdles: Bird & Bird veteran on life at a smaller firm

Last month, Bird & Bird ATMD in Singapore lost the last of its founding partners when Alban Kang retired.

He then joined Singapore-based firm Robinson on July 1 where he will work as an of counsel handling various IP disputes. Kang told Managing IP why he’s eyeing artificial intelligence and patent cases.

To read the full article, click here.

Other articles published on Managing IP this week include:

Five minutes with… Johan Åberg, Lindahl

SCOTUS to rule on ‘veil piercing’ trademark case

Patent stock-take: UPC monitoring and calming ‘nervous’ clients

Weekly take: UPC judicial appointments shine spotlight on D&I

How lawyers are managing trademark practices post-Abitron

Elsewhere in IP

AI filers

China-based inventors are filing the highest number of patents related to generative artificial intelligence, a report by WIPO has shown.

The WIPO Patent Landscape Report on Generative AI, published on Wednesday, July 2, revealed that the top five inventor locations were China, the US, South Korea, Japan, and India. Chinese companies Tencent, Ping An Insurance, Baidu, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with IBM, made up the top five applicants.

AI inventor

Sticking with AI, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled in a decision published this week that an AI-generated invention is protectable but that a natural person should be named as the inventor. An AI generating an invention does not justify the rejection of an application, the court found. The decision is out of step with the position in the UK, which ruled that if an AI devises an invention, it is unprotectable.

Substantive ruling

Yesterday, July 4, the Unified Patent Court handed down only its second published decision on the merits.

Dexcom's infringement case against Abbott was dismissed after the Paris local division ruled that Abbott had successfully invalidated a Dexcom patent, which covered continuous glucose monitoring, for a lack of inventive step. Abbott was represented by Taylor Wessing while Bird & Bird and Hoffmann Eitle acted for Dexcom.

UPC nears 500

Meanwhile, the UPC is approaching 500 cases filed since it started operations on June 1 2023. According to the latest statistics, published on Monday, July 1, the court has received 411 cases across all divisions, up from 373 at the end of May. English and German (48% and 46% respectively) continue to be the most popular languages.

PRS under fire

A group of UK songwriters and composers have sued PRS For Music, their collective management organisation. The action, filed last month at the England and Wales High Court, centres around how PRS handles royalties. The group claims some policies are prejudicial to their interests and those of the wider PRS membership.

Google deal

InterDigital announced on Tuesday, July 2, that it had signed a new licensing agreement with Google. The agreement provides a licence to InterDigital’s cellular wireless, Wi-Fi, and HEVC video patented technologies and covers a range of devices including Pixel smartphones, Fitbit wearables, and other consumer electronics devices.

Benelux boss

Hugues Derème took up his new role as director general of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) on Monday, July 1. Derème had been deputy director general at BOIP since 2008. The appointment is for five years.

That's it for today, see you again next week.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Partners at three law firms explain why trade secrets cases are rising, and how litigation is giving clients a market advantage
Delegates at a conference unpicking the UK’s relationship with the UPC are hopeful of strengthened UK involvement – so should we all be
News of a litigation funder suing its co-founder and a law firm over trade secrets infringement, and a strategic hire by Womble Bond Dickinson were also among the top talking points
Managing IP’s parent company, LBG, will acquire The Lawyer, a leading news, intelligence, and data-driven insight provider for the legal industry, from Centaur Media
In major recent developments, a team of partners broke away from Taylor Wessing to form their own firm, while Kilburn & Strode made a strategic UPC hire
General Court backs Christian Archambeau in some of his challenges against his departure, but dismisses others
Morgan Lewis adds three partners with technical depth, reinforcing the firm’s strategy to bridge legal and tech expertise in patent litigation
The firm posted a 13% increase in profit as well as a rise in overall revenue
Catherine Lee, one of Managing IP’s Top 250 Women in IP 2025, discusses her ‘soft’ approach to leadership and why building a community at work is important
Transactions specialists at Paul Weiss are advising on the high-profile split of Kraft Heinz into two companies, while Skadden is also involved in the deal
Gift this article