2024 // FICPI ABC MEETING -June, Edinburgh, UK - Presentations

Can the configuration of a fold-up bicycle or rowing machine be the subject of enforceable copyright? Does disclosing a product in a published utility patent automatically prevent it from protected in a later design? Can a trade mark be opposed based on a geographical indication? As practitioners we tend to think of IP rights in silos, but some of the most interesting and intractable issues arise where different forms of IP overlap. In this session, we shall look at several scenarios where different kinds of IP rights collide from a UK, U.S. and Canadian perspective, and shed light on the fascinating dilemmas that arise.

Moderator: Michael Conway (UK)
Speakers: Michelle Noonan (CA), Rob Katz (U.S.)

As much as statutes and case law may direct examination, its sharp end is (for the moment at least!) embodied by an Examiner: human, fallible, subject to a range of emotional states and reactions. In a world where marginal gains can be paramount, the difference between helping an Examiner to reach a favourable conclusion and incurring their wrath can mean everything.   Against this backdrop, and from UK, Canadian and U.S. perspectives, the panel will investigate different approaches that can be employed (or avoided!) when seeking to get optimal examination results.  We shall also seek insight from an Examiner’s perspective.

Moderator: Nick Noble (UK)
Speakers: Sharon Crane (U.S.), Matthew Lawson (UKIPO), Philip Mendes da Costa (CA), and Alistair Hindle (UK)