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October at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board saw a levelling out of petition filing, the first ever extension of the final written decision deadline for good cause, and one precedential and three informative PTAB decisions

Recent US intellectual property news included Broadcom’s takeover bid for Qualcomm, the PTAB’s request for briefing over Allergan’s Native American tribe deal, the Supreme Court’s denial of Samsung’s appeal of a $120m damages award to Apple, a US district court’s ruling that Google does not have to obey a Canadian court order requiring it to take down information around the world, a trade group letter asking the USTR to prioritise trade secrets, and the USPTO’s two-year diversion pilot programme

Immortalised as a perennial icon of the motoring industry and a prime example of British engineering at its finest, production of the Land Rover Defender finally came to an end in January 2016. Spanning almost 70 years, the Defender had been the longest-running production car in existence.

The UKIPO has adopted a number of procedures to provide applicants with a good idea of the chance of successful grant within the first few months from filing. This early certainty is helpful when utilising PPH and managing a global family of patents. The EPO is also well-known for its rigorous approach to the examination of patent applications, and as such a granted European patent is considered to be a valuable and high-quality asset. However, in the past this detailed level of search and examination has sometimes led to delays in the prosecution process, which have been frustrating for both applicants and third parties, and have resulted in a lack of legal certainty. Such delays can be particularly problematic in view of the trend for shortening product lifecycles.

The UKIPO has long provided the means for any third party to obtain an independent opinion on questions of validity and infringement in relation to granted UK and EP(UK) patents. More recently this service has been extended, for example by allowing additional grounds of invalidity to be raised, leading to a surge in its popularity among clients operating in the UK.

On March 29, Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50, formally notifying the European Union of the UK's intention to withdraw from the EU. The UK government now begins the lengthy process of negotiating the terms of our exit with our European partners.

Overall success rates of motions to stay district court litigation pending review at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board have dropped noticeably in the past fiscal year. Christopher Hanewicz and Truscenialyn Brooks of Perkins Coie analyse recent stay statistics

China’s ambitious initiative will likely lead to it being a hub for securing IP protection for businesses investing in Belt and Road Initiative projects. It will also affect enforcement strategies, with IP disputes expected to increase along the BRI route

The Patent Court recently issued the first application of the UK Supreme Court’s Actavis v Eli Lilly ruling. Arnold J considered the impact on novelty of the doctrine of equivalents