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We’ve Moved!

Ouzman IP is delighted to advise that we’ve moved office – giving us more room, and space for expansion! But we haven’t gone far – we’re just across the corridor from our old office in Suite 3 and still in 13 Main Street in lovely Milngavie, so we are still handy to provide advice on […]

Loch Ness – Whisky or Mystery?

Getting your facts straight at the start of a trade mark dispute can be invaluable – as shown in this case about a trade mark centred on one of Scotland’s most iconic lochs. Background Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Limited (the applicant) applied to invalidate six UK registrations. All of the registrations included the words “LOCH […]

Crocs Put Their Foot In It.

One of the biggest mistakes, often made by small starts-ups working on a limited budget, is to disclose their product before securing the appropriate IP protection. Usually this is in the heady rush and excitement of getting the product to market. But it is still essential to think about IP first. Recently the US-based shoe […]

BREXIT and IP. How will the outcome effect YOUR business?

With just one week left to go, the BREXIT referendum is nearly upon us, but have you given any thought to how a BREXIT might affect the IP of your business?

Patent Strategies – Some Thoughts

An area of IP that is too often overlooked is that of IP strategy. A company with some level of IP – and every company does have some! – should invest a little time in thinking through their IP strategy. Otherwise the likelihood is that the decisions regarding IP are made without sufficient regard to what the realistic objectives […]

Can a biscuit be a trade mark?

Do you only ever think of trade marks being words or pictures? Actually the possibilities are much, much wider. Essentially a trade mark is any “sign” capable of distinguishing your goods or services from those of any other trader. So, for instance, a trade mark can include a shape.

The Nagoya Protocol

Nagoya – What every UK Biotech company should know The Nagoya Protocol is here to stay and its requirements will fundamentally affect biotech research in the UK.

IP Insurance: Is it worth the money?

Intellectual Property is central to protecting the ideas, creativity and brands. But many businesses fail to take action to protect such valuable assets. Their reason? There’s no point, we wouldn’t be able to afford a court action to stop an infringer anyway.

New US Patent Office Guidelines

The USPTO has issued new Guidelines for US Examiners to use in order to determine whether an invention is patent eligible (i.e. is of a type which is not barred from being patentable). These Guidelines are effective from 16 December 2014 and address concerns raised following the US PTO’s change in practice (subsequent to recent biotech Supreme Court patent […]

Biotech Patent update on human embryos

The EU Court of Justice held on 18 December 2014 that a non-fertilised human ovum is not regarded as a human embryo unless it has an inherent capacity to develop into a human being. The fact that the ovum had been parthenogenetically-activated and had commenced a process of development was insufficient for it to be caught by […]

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