The November issue of Squire Patton Boggs Bio/Pharma Beat is now available. Our monthly newsletter reports on important patent law developments in biotech, biologics and pharmaceutical cases, legislation and federal agency actions. This month’s issue covers relevant news from October 2019, including: The Federal Circuit holds the “hope” that a potentially promising drug will treat a particular cancer is not enough to establish a reasonable expectation of success The Federal Circuit holds a method of…

There are some colours that consumers associate with particular brands. For example, EasyJet is known for its distinctive orange livery, while Cadbury is known for the dark purple colour which it uses on the packaging of some of its chocolate bars and in its advertising. However, it is far from straightforward for brands to register colours as trade marks, and thus to take advantage of the monopoly rights afforded to trade mark proprietors.…

It was recently reported that Marks & Spencer is to offer a ‘buy now, pay later’ option on its website for online customers. The company  is modernising its services with the introduction of this payment scheme. Marks & Spencer joins the likes of ASOS and H&M in offering buy now, pay later (“BNPL“) services. How does it work? BNPL is typically an interest bearing option that enables customers to delay paying for goods or by…

Introduction and summary The European Commission recently published a Report on the effectiveness of the EU framework for online dispute resolution (ODR) and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for consumers. The report demonstrates that whilst the use of ODR and ADR has increased, consumer awareness remains insufficient. The Commission is looking to improve the use of ADR platforms and part of this will no doubt include enforcement of the rules at Member State level.…

Steven Auvil, partner and leader of our US IP litigation practice will serve as a moderator at IAM’s Patent Litigation: Navigating the Law and Policy Landscape in the U.S., on November 5th in Washington DC. Steven’s panel, “Navigating the US Litigation Climate” will discuss lessons IP owners can learn from this past year’s docket, the state of play with 101, Supreme Court updates, and the Federal Circuit’s impact as the PTAB’s appeals court. Session panelists…

In September, Ailin O’Flaherty wrote about an ASA ruling relating to the depiction of young athletes in advertising for our sister blog Sports Shorts. You can read the blog here, and subscribe to Sports Shorts if you would like to receive regular updates and insights on sports law.…

Property firm Savills recently estimated that the UK housing market is at its weakest point since the global financial crisis of 2007/2008 and it is perhaps unsurprising, therefore, that in recent years sellers have increasingly resorted to listing their property in a lottery or raffle. However, running a property lottery whilst simultaneously staying compliant with all the relevant rules and regulations is no easy feat. There are many examples in the news of illegal property…