ERBI’s BioPartnering Exchange Cambridge 7-9 May(MAY 2008)
Mewburn Ellis partners Nick Sutcliffe and Hilary King, and patent attorney Jonathan Wills are attending ERBI’s BioPartnering Exchange in Cambridge on 7 - 9 May and would be pleased to catch up with any clients and friends that are attending.  For more information on the event you can visit the website at http://www.erbiconference.co.uk/

CIPA prizes for outstanding exam results at Mewburn Ellis LLP (APRIL 2008)
Well done to Julie Carlisle, Patent Attorney, on being awarded the “Proxime Accessit prize” by the CIPA council.  The prize has been given to Julie for obtaining the second highest overall marks in her exams for qualification as a UK patent attorney.   Julie was only one mark behind the winner of the “Gill Prize”, which is given annually to the candidate achieving the highest aggregate marks in the four Advanced Level Papers taken in one sitting.

Another admirable performance at Mewburn Ellis comes from Emily Hayes, Patent Assistant, who has been awarded the “Michael Jones Prize” by the CIPA council for the candidate passing the patent amendment paper with the highest mark.

Congratulations to both of them on their notable achievements!

NEW PARTNERS (APRIL 2008)
The partners of Mewburn Ellis LLP are happy to announce that Rebecca Tollervey, Jeremy Webster, Richard Johnson, Hilary King and Lindsey Woolley have joined the partnership.  They are also pleased to welcome Simon Parry to the firm and to the partnership.  Simon, who joins us from Forresters, will be based in our Manchester office and brings with him a wealth of experience in a wide range of engineering fields.    

THE END OF AN ERA............. (MARCH 2008)
Marilyn Rippon, the longest serving employee of the firm, retires at the end of this month after 44 years of employment. The Partners and staff at Mewburn Ellis LLP wish Marilyn a very happy retirement and would like to thank her for all her hard work and commitment to the firm over the years.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR JEWELLERS (MARCH 2008)
On Wednesday 12 March 2008, Mewburn Ellis LLP's Eddie Walker will be giving a talk, on behalf of ChangeActShare, aimed at Jewellers.  The talk will cover all aspects of Intellectual Property, but will focus on copyright and design rights in particular.  Further details can be found here.

COMMUNITY TRADE MARK OFFICE TO CHARGE FOR NATIONAL SEARCHES (MARCH 2008)
Form 10 March 2008 OHIM is charging a separate fee for national searches, which become optional. There will automatically continue to be a search for potentially conflicting prior CTMs.

It is not possible to select individual national searches; if they are requested they will be for all 17 national offices that carry them out. The searches must be requested on filing.

Our recommendation is that national searches are not requested as we consider them to have limited value. In many cases it will be appropriate to have independent searches carried out. The extent and timing of these will depend upon a number of factors, in particular the expected time scale for putting the mark into use. We will be able to advise you as to the appropriate strategy in a given situation.

STOP PRESS!!  LONDON AGREEMENT TO ENTER INTO FORCE ON 1 MAY 2008 (January 2008)
We are very pleased to announce that France deposited their instrument of ratification of the London Agreement on 29 January, paving the way for reduced costs for translating European patents granted on or after 1 May 2008.  

Currently, a European patent must be translated after grant into the national language of every country in which protection is sought.  Failure to do so results in the patent being deemed void in that country.  Translation costs are high and typically account for up to 40% of overall patenting costs in Europe.  Signatory states to the London Agreement will waive, entirely or largely, the requirement for translation of patents into their national language.  

Our information sheet on the London Agreement explains more. 

EPO FEE INCREASES (AND HOW TO AVOID THEM!) (January 2008)
Most EPO official fees will increase by about 5% on 01 April 2008.  However, some fees (claims fees and renewal fees) will increase substantially.  The new rates will apply to fees paid on or after 01 April 2008.  We suggest you consider paying some fees early in order to avoid the increases.  Please do contact us if you want to take any action.

Additional changes to EPO official fees (including claims fees, pages fees, and designation fees) will take effect on 01 April 2009 but we concentrate here on the April 2008 changes to claims fees and renewal fees.

Claims Fees
Currently, claims fees are payable for each claim more than 10, at a rate of 45 Euros per claim (and so a claim set with 20 claims currently invites claims fees of 450 Euros).  From 01 April 2008, claims fees will be payable for each claim more than 15, at a rate of 200 Euros per claim (and so a claim set with 20 claims will invite claims fees of 1000 Euros).  

Consequently, where possible, it may be desirable to pay claims fees early, before the new (increased) rates take effect.  

For example, for international (PCT) applications approaching the normal deadline for entering the European regional phase (31 months from the earliest priority date or the international filing date if no priority was claimed), it may be sensible to enter the regional phase early and pay the associated claims fees, before the normal deadline, and before 01 April 2008, in order to benefit from the current (lower) rates.  Similarly, it may be sensible to file direct European patent applications (and pay the associated claims fees) early, before expiry of the normal 12 month priority period, and before 01 April 2008, in order to avoid the increased fees.

Renewal Fees
Renewal fees will increase by as much as 56%.  Furthermore, the surcharge for paying a renewal fee late (within a six-month additional period) will increase from 10% to 50% of the late renewal fee.  

Consequently, you may wish to consider paying renewal fees early, before 01 April 2008, in order to benefit from the current (lower) rates.

Renewal fees may be paid up to one year in advance, and so it is possible to pay renewal fees which are due on or before 31 March 2009 before the increased fees take effect on 01 April 2008. 
   
AIPLA (JANUARY 2008)
Partners Robert Watson and Stephen Carter will be attending the AIPLA Mid-Winter Institute in Phoenix, AZ, January 23-26, 2008 and hope to catch up with any clients and friends that are attending.  Do let Robert or Stephen know if you plan to be there. 

Training Course on the European Patent 2008 (JANUARY 2008)
We are pleased to announce that our Summer Course on the European Patent will run again from 2nd to 13th June 2008. 

Our two-week course provides an in-depth study of the legal and practical aspects of working with the EPC and EPO, with optional additional workshops on other aspects of intellectual property. Our delegates consistently comment that the practical exercises are particularly valuable and we have expanded this aspect of the course still further for 2008.   Because the course was oversubscribed in 2006 and 2007, we have introduced a limit of two members per organisation for the 2007 course.  This is intended to preserve the intimate teaching style of the course, which we consider to be essential.

Please click here for further information.