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Kim Wright

Senior Associate

Perspective - Blog

Thaler v Comptroller [2023] UKSC 49: the UKSC rules that AI cannot be an 'inventor'

Published on 10 Jan 2024. By Matthew Jones, Partner

To the surprise of no one, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) has finally ruled that an artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be an inventor for the purposes of UK patent law. This judgment accords with the decisions of the lower courts in the UK and the initial ruling of the UKIPO. It also reflects similar findings from most of courts around the world where the claimant, Dr Thaler, brought similar actions.

Perspective - Blog

Generative AI and intellectual property rights—the UK government's position

Published on 03 May 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Jani Ihalainen, Associate and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

The IPO is to produce a code of practice by the summer that will provide guidance to support AI firms in accessing copyright protected works as an input to their models.

Perspective - Blog

Ginfringement: Success for M&S in the Court of Appeal in registered design spat with Aldi

Published on 15 Mar 2024. By Rory Graham, Associate and Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

M&S and Aldi's gin bottle battle over design rights has reached a conclusion (for now) as the Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld the IPEC's decision that Aldi's bottle infringed M&S' design.

Perspective - Blog

Clear as gin: M&S and Aldi take liquor bottle battle to the Court of Appeal

Published on 26 Jan 2024. By Rory Graham, Associate and Georgia Davis, Of Counsel

Intellectual property enthusiasts' favourite supermarket adversaries were back at loggerheads this week as M&S and Aldi appear before the Court of Appeal. The pair sought to thrash out a first instance decision handed down in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) regarding alleged infringement of M&S' registered design rights in a gin bottle.

Perspective - Blog

M&S v Aldi – lookalike claims lit up by design rights

Published on 24 Mar 2023. By Ciara Cullen, Partner and Harpreet Kaur, Associate

As lookalike products rise in prominence, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court's (IPEC) recent ruling that the sale and advertisement of Aldi's 'Infusionist' range of favoured gins infringed M&S's UK registered designs protecting the light-up bottles containing its 'Snow Globe' gin range (Marks and Spencer PLC v Aldi Stores Limited [2023] EWHC 178) highlights the utility of registered design rights in circumstances where other intellectual property rights (IPR) are often less able to provide protection.

Perspective - Blog

Lookalikes and passing off—bottle design get-up claim (Au Vodka)

Published on 07 Nov 2022. By Ciara Cullen, Partner and Sarah Mountain, Partner and Samuel Coppard, Senior Associate

Currently there's significant activity in the lookalikes space. The Au Vodka claim (Au Vodka v NE10 Vodka [2022] EWHC 2371), which focuses on bottle design 'get-up', arrived in the courts for an interim injunction hearing in September 2022. Au Vodka's application was dismissed. The judgment shows that passing off—get-up claims based on shape can be challenging to bring, particularly at the interim stage, and prompts the question of whether it's possible to bring Cofemel and copyright into the lookalikes arena.

Perspective - Blog

William Grant & Sons v Lidl: where to be-gin?

Published on 16 Jun 2021. By Ciara Cullen, Partner and Ben Mark, Partner and Sarah Mountain, Partner

On 25 May 2021, the Scottish Court of Session (SCOS) granted an interim interdict (akin to an interim injunction), which prevents Lidl from selling its own brand 'Hampstead gin' in Scottish stores, pending the outcome of the matter at trial.

Perspective - Blog

The November 2023 AI safety summit and the UK's direction of travel

Published on 29 Aug 2023. By Helen Armstrong, Partner and Charles Buckworth, Partner and Joshy Thomas, Knowledge Lawyer

The government has confirmed that the UK AI safety summit will be held at Bletchley Park on 1 and 2 November 2023.

Perspective - Blog

Parliamentary 'wash up' – which Bills made it through?

Published on 31 May 2024. By Paul Joukador, Partner and Praveeta Thayalan, Knowledge Lawyer and Shahil Goodka, Trainee Solicitor

On 22 May 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a General Election will take place on 4 July 2024. Parliament was then prorogued on 24 May 2024 which allowed a mere 2 days for 'wash up' - the process by which outstanding bills may be rushed through the parliamentary process.

Perspective - Blog

Look to the future: Trainees take on 2019

Published on 25 Jan 2019.

The trainees didn't fare too badly with their 2018 predictions. They doubted England's ability to make it past the group stages of the World Cup, but foresaw how Brexit would dominate the news agenda. They over-optimistically predicted the introduction of automated bundling, but came very close on the value of Bitcoin. Read on to see this year's predictions.

Perspective - Blog

Brexit - a legal analysis: IP rights

Published on 28 Jun 2016.

IP rights in the UK are all influenced and moulded to a greater or lesser degree by European law.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Spring 2024

Published on 17 Apr 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Winter 2023

Published on 12 Dec 2023. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Autumn 2023

Published on 25 Oct 2023. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Summer 2023

Published on 07 Jul 2023. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Spring 2023

Published on 31 Mar 2023. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Snapshot

Snapshots Winter 2022

Published on 23 Dec 2022. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

A roundup of key legal developments for the modern commercial lawyer.

Perspective - Publication

All is not (necessarily) lost: Crypto crime recovery

Published on 30 Jun 2022. By Adam Craggs, Partner

With over 2 million people in the UK now holding and using cryptocurrency, and the Chancellor announcing that a government backed non-fungible token ("NFT") is to be issued by the Royal Mint this summer, the market for crypto-assets is expected to continue to grow in the coming months and years; so much so that legislation is planned to implement a new regulatory regime for the crypto market.

Perspective - Snapshot