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Patents

Patent law, and intellectual property law generally, is my passion.  I am one of those people lucky enough to have found my vocation.

My work now is very strongly patent focused.  But when I started in the IP profession, I did a lot of trade mark work, and I really enjoyed dealing with brands that people recognised.  It counteracted the dinner party effect that I have had all my life as a chemist and then a patent attorney – the dead look that you get, for example at a dinner party, when someone asks “What do you do for a living?”, and then realises with mounting horror that they have nothing to follow with when you have answered.  I don’t find it so easy to engage most people with chemistry, or with patent law, but with trade mark law I find that most people are quite enthusiastic straight away.

I also really enjoy registered designs, and have practised at the OHIM from its very inception.  The recent high profile litigation regarding tablet computers has raised this IP right above the radar for the first time, I think.

Practising in the pharmaceutical field, I am one of those few who regularly deals with supplementary protection certificates.  If these interest you, then look out for the SPC blog.

In this blog, I will post about patent and other IP cases regularly – court decisions and EPO decisions that catch my eye.

The most comprehensive source for current IP materials and reports is the IPKat.  It is where I cut my blogging teeth, and it is my favourite external site.  It is a truly collaborative effort.

For my serious views, look out for my publications and newsflashes on the EIP Elements blog.