Intellectual Property at Linklaters
Our experienced cross-border Intellectual Property team advises market-leading companies on high-profile IP litigation and complex IP-driven transactions and advisory matters
Our experience
- GSK (Tesaro): in Court of Appeal proceedings regarding a dispute with AstraZeneca over the patent licence for Zejula, GSK’s PARP-inhibitor cancer product.
- ViiV Healthcare, Shionogi, GSK: in a cross-border patent litigation relating to Gilead's blockbuster HIV treatment, Bictegravir.
- Regeneron and Sanofi: in a cross-border patent litigation against Amgen in the UK, France, Germany and beyond, regarding a revolutionary new class of cholesterol-lowering antibody treatments.
- Merck & Co., Inc.: in its long-running and high-profile multi-jurisdictional trade mark infringement and breach of contract dispute against Germany-based Merck KGaA regarding use of the “MERCK” name.
- Intel: in relation to a patent infringement action by Intellectual Ventures II against internet provider Orange in Germany relating to a patent essential to the ADSL standards.
- Seoul Viosys (a sister company of Seoul Semiconductor): advising on and representing in an enforcement campaign at the UPC, concerning patents for a new complex technology increasing the overall efficiency of LEDs.
- Unilever: on the sale of its global tea business to CVC for €4.5 bn. Unilever’s tea business included a portfolio of 34 leading brands, including the iconic ‘PG Tips’ brand, as well as ‘Pukka’, ‘T2’ and ‘Tazo’.
- Citibank, N.A.: on the complex brand licensing issues arising from the disposal of its consumer banking businesses in nine jurisdictions with a value of approximately $7 billion.
- Nestlé: on its joint venture with PAI Partners in respect of Nestlé’s frozen pizza business across Europe. Brands were central to the deal which involved the transfer and/or long terms licensing of the Wagner, Buitoni and Garden Gourmet brands from Nestlé to the joint venture entity in numerous countries across Europe.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.: advised on the scope and exclusivity of complex patent licence agreements in relation to its £2.25 billion acquisition of The Binding Site Group, a global leader in innovative medical diagnostic products.
- Gymshark: advising on the franchising of its brand in the Middle East, including drafting and negotiating a long term franchise agreement with a reputable franchisee within the region.
Explore our Thought Leadership
AI Webinar Series: The Latest IP Developments
Much has been said about new AI regulation. However, from a practical perspective, there is a more pressing issue at hand – the treatment of IP. IP issues are already creating real risks from a litigation viewpoint and those risks now need to be mitigated or understood and accepted as reasonable commercial risks.
Cyber security series: Cyber attacks and intellectual property rights
With the frequency, scale and cost of cyber attacks growing rapidly, focus on cyber from boards, stakeholders, regulators and the media has never been more acute. Legal teams are, more than ever, being relied on to help their organisations adequately prepare for cyber incidents.
UPC Hub
Linklaters has a dedicated taskforce preparing for the introduction of the UPC. On this microsite, we summarise for you key information on the UPC and regular updates on its launch.
Implementing and Enforcing Standard Essential Patents
To learn more about key issues involving SEPs and FRAND, please click on the link below to watch the webinar.
Artificial intelligence and intellectual property
In this webinar, we provided an overview of the IP implications of AI, including IP protections for AI systems; IP protections for the outputs of AI; and potential liability for IP infringement arising from use of AI technologies.
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AI Webinar Series: The Latest IP Developments
AI Webinar Series: The Latest IP Developments
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Cyber attacks and intellectual property rights
Cyber attacks and intellectual property rights
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UPC Hub
UPC Hub
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Standard Essential Patents
Standard Essential Patents
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AI in IP
AI in IP
Insights and Resources
IP BITES, Asia and Middle East Intellectual Property Update
30 September 2024 // Publication
Welcome to the third issue of our intellectual property newsletter, hot on the heels of an eventful IP Week @ SG 2024!
This edition features key developments in the region, including Hong Kong’s proposed copyright exception for text and data mining, China’s draft regulations on managing foreign-related IP disputes, and Indonesia’s new franchising regulations. Don’t miss our European spotlight on the EU AI Act. We also look forward to seeing you at the 2024 AIPPI World Congress in Hangzhou this October!
Cross-border Patent Litigation Update June 2024
2 July 2024 // Publication
Our update on patent litigation cases summarises key decisions from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, and the Unified Patent Court. This time, a major focus has been on the Unified Patent Court, which has been operational for over a year and shown that it will not hesitate to leave its mark.
Updated AI Toolkit - Ethical, safe, lawful: A toolkit for artificial intelligence projects
1 July 2024 // Publication
Our updated AI Toolkit, crafted by our expert technology, privacy, intellectual property, litigation, employment, competition, ESG and financial regulatory teams, is intended as a quick-reference guide for in-house counsel on all things AI.
IP BITES, Asia and Middle East Intellectual Property Update
1 July 2024 // Publication
The convergence of AI and IP continues to take centre stage in this issue of our quarterly IP bulletin as we explore two important AI-related court decisions in China and Japan.
A new Gen AI governance framework and a Gen AI and copyright guide were also issued in Singapore and South Korea respectively. This edition includes a spotlight on the Unified Patent Court in Europe, which celebrated its first anniversary on 1 June 2024, and an update on our World IP Day event held in Hong Kong SAR!
Redline version of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) (EU) 2024/825
27 June 2024 // Publication
Redline version of the Unfair Commerical Practices Directive highlighting changes introduced by the Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 2024 amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU as regards empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information of 6 March 2024
Colorado Enacts Landmark AI Legislation, setting a Marker for Other States to Follow
23 May 2024 // Publication
On May 17, 2024, the Colorado Governor signed SB 205, which will become the most comprehensive state AI law enacted to-date in the United States. Coupled with President Biden’s AI Executive Order in October 2023, along with the potential for bipartisan federal legislation or other follow-on state laws, the Colorado law sends a strong signal that any developer or deployer of AI tools should be tracking regulatory developments closely.
IP BITES, Asia and Middle East Intellectual Property Update
9 April 2024 // Publication
Welcome to the first issue of our Asia and Middle East IP bulletin, where we provide you with the latest updates on the key IP developments in the region.
AI continues to make headlines as China issued its first decision on copyright infringement by AI-generated output, while governments across the region are continuing their efforts to update their intellectual property laws to keep up with advancements in technology.
Cross-border Patent Litigation Update November 2023
29 November 2023 // Publication
After many years in the making, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) finally started its operations on 1 June. It has accumulated a fair number of cases by now and even issued its first decisions in the first month, with additional decisions coming out regularly now.
We have therefore included a dedicated section on the UPC in this latest edition of our update, which also comprises summaries of the most relevant decisions from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium.
The Patent Litigation Law Review
17 May 2023 // Publication
The Law Reviews has recently published its sixth edition of The Patent Litigation Law Review. Our partners contributed this year again to the German chapter.
What to expect of the changes to the copyright tax regime
13 December 2022 // Publication
On 18 November 2022, the Council of Ministers approved the 2022 Program Law (the “Draft Law”) introducing a number of changes to the existing tax treatment of copyright related income under Belgian tax law. This is a special personal income tax regime where income from copyright is taxed in the hands of the individual copyright holder at a flat rate (the “Copyright Tax Regime”). These changes have essentially been suggested in an effort to limit the budgetary impact of the existing legislation, as well as to put an end to the alleged tax abuse of the Copyright Tax Regime.
Cross-border Patent Litigation Update December 2022
7 December 2022 // Publication
Linklaters has published its first cross-border patent litigation update covering the most relevant developments in the UK, Germany, France and Belgium. The featured developments include decisions from the UK and France on the availability of preliminary injunctions before the grant of a patent, a judgment of the German Federal Court of Justice on the grant of exclusive licenses with retroactive effect and, lastly, a draft law published by the Belgian legislator that is intended to simplify and improve the patent grant procedure.
Tech Legal Outlook 2023
1 December 2022 // Publication
Disruptive forces are shaping the outlook for 2023, yet technology will continue to be a key enabler for businesses and certain tech verticals will attract significant investment as companies and investors navigate this new market dynamic. In this publication, our tech sector lawyers from around the world explore the key global trends in the technology sector that we believe will shape the legal outlook for businesses in 2023 and beyond.
Italy Digital Pulse – November 2022
18 November 2022 // Publication
Welcome to the November 2022 edition of “Digital Pulse”. Hot topics in this edition are Fintech, Open innovation, Blockchain, Cyber Security and Metaverse. Read the newsletter and discover more!
Contemplating the metaverse: Opportunities and risks
7 November 2022 // Publication
Through our Contemplating the metaverse blog series, our teams across practices delve into the opportunities and legal risks companies should be considering.
Indonesia passes its long-awaited data protection bill: Key implications for your business
27 September 2022 // Publication
On 20 September 2022, Indonesia’s House of Representatives finally passed into law the long-awaited Data Protection Bill. The Data Protection Law marks a new era for the privacy law regime in South East Asia’s most populous market, as the first overarching regulation on data protection. Although passed by the House of Representatives, an official copy of Law is yet to be published, pending signature by Indonesia’s President within 30 days of the House’s decision. The final Law is therefore expected to be published and enacted by mid-October 2022.
Secrecy of communication: the limits of the investigative powers of the Belgian tax authorities
4 July 2022 // Publication
The Belgian tax authorities have wide powers of investigation to assess the correctness of taxpayers’ income tax returns, e.g. the right to request information from taxpayers which is relevant either for the assessment of their own tax treatment or for the tax treatment of third parties. Failure to co-operate may result in the imposition of administrative fines. However, as you can read in our blogpost, recent case law shows that data protection and privacy undoubtedly mark a limit that the tax authorities cannot cross when exercising their investigative powers.
The Patent Litigation Law Review
17 May 2022 // Publication
The Law Reviews has recently published its fifth edition of The Patent Litigation Law Review. Linklaters Germany contributed the chapter on Germany.
Patent Litigation Update Germany – 1/2022
17 March 2022 // Publication
In our latest edition of the Patent Litigation Update, we summarize important recent court decisions on patent law in Germany.
