News

The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) comments on the extent to which the installation of spare parts leads to a new production displacing the exhaustion effect. On 8 November 2022, the Federal Court of Justice delivered its judgement (8 November 2022, X ZR 10/20) in the legal dispute concerning the question of a new […]

Marie-Claude Pellegrini has been appointed as a W&R partner and brings a wealth of experience in specialist areas of aeronautics, automotive and advanced technologies. Based in our Paris office, Marie-Claude is joining the Withers & Rogers partnership to develop our growing French offering in a client-led strategic move, which is part of the firm’s broader […]

In 2021, a referral was made to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) in case T116/18 concerning whether post-published evidence (i.e., information not available until after the filing date of a patent application) can be used to demonstrate a technical effect in the assessment of inventive step.  The EBA issued its preliminary opinion in October […]

Brazil has ratified the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This means that from 1 August 2023 Brazil can be designated in new international design applications under the Hague system. Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America. International design applications allow applicants to submit a single design application to the International […]

As the drive towards renewable energy use gains pace, there has been an increase in global patent filings relating to battery technology. While lithium-ion batteries currently dominate the battery market, they have several disadvantages. For instance, the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries requires large quantities of energy and water to extract raw materials.1 The high demand […]

When Aldi launched a festive gin bottle with a snow globe effect in a light up bottle few could help but draw comparison with the very similar M&S product launched a year earlier. The visual similarity and the price differential between the M&S version and the Aldi version were out of the playbook that is […]