PATENTS, TRADE MARKS AND DESIGNS
WE HELP INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES OF ALL shapes and SIZES
Schlich is a unique team of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys based in the South of England. Since 2004, we’ve helped our clients acquire, and defend, their IP assets, helping them to build and grow successful businesses based on their IP assets.
We draft and file patent applications, get them granted and enforce them. We also prepare and file trade mark applications and prosecute them to registration.
To enforce our clients’ rights, we also represent them in court and other inter partes proceedings (and, where necessary, attack and remove competitors’ rights).
Recent Insights
Read the latest news and briefings from the team at Schlich about real cases involving patents, trade marks and designs.
Where to Start? Somewhere Realistic or Promising, Says the EPO!
Another Board of Appeal has confirmed that, following G 1/23, a non-reproducible product can be the closest prior art, but adds the non-reproducible nature of the product should be taken into account when deciding whether the claimed solution is obvious.
Change is Coming to Australia! Patent Term Extension to No Longer be Available for Formulations
A recent decision of the Australian Full Federal Court has caused a significant change in practice regarding patent term extension for pharmaceutical substances in Australia.
Seagen vs Daiichi Sankyo: A Warning Shot for Broad Biologic Platform Patents in the US
A recent decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Seagen vs Daiichi Sankyo has sent a clear and consequential message to applicants and patentees in biotechnology and life sciences. The ruling appears to raise the risk profile for broadly claimed biologic and platform patents in the United States, extending well beyond the antibody space.
UPC Takes EPO Approach when Assessing Patentability of Broad Antibody Claims in Amgen v Sanofi
Following in the EPO’s footsteps, the UPC Court of Appeal have taken a patentee friendly approach when assessing Amgen’s functionally defined antibody claims.
Claim Interpretation and Other Lessons from Otec v. Steros at the UPC Court of Appeal
This UPC Court of Appeal’s decision in Otec v. Steros provides further guidance on how claims are to be interpreted at the UPC. The Court made it clear that experimental data produced after the filing of a patent application and not disclosed in a patent specification generally cannot be used to clarify the meaning of the claims and can only be relied upon in exceptional circumstances. The ruling underscores the importance of drafting claims and descriptions that are clear and complete from the outset.
Inventive Step Based on a “Black Box” Following G1/23
The EPO Technical Boards of Appeal (TBA) decision in T 1044/23 offers the first practical insight into how the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) decision in G 1/23 will shape novelty and inventive step assessments when the prior art consists of commercially available products whose manufacturing processes remain undisclosed, i.e. effectively an intellectual “black box.”
Which is More Important: Human Rights or Trade Marks? The CJEU Prepares to Decide!
The interplay between human rights and intellectual property, and the question of whether the exclusive rights conferred by registering IP can be used to restrict a third party’s right to freedom of expression, have been raised in several cases. In a recent opinion, the CJEU’s Advocate General has suggested there is a balance to be struck, rather than one right being more important than the other.
When AI is not enough: UKIPO and patentability of AI inventions
Technology with artificial intelligence has experienced an extraordinary boom in recent years. This is reflected in the increasing number of patent applications with inventions that integrate AI to their functionality. Interestingly, this has raised many legal questions regarding excluded subject matter, seeing that determining what constitutes a patentable AI invention has become an important point of debate in intellectual property law.
EXCELLENCE IN PATENT AND TRADE MARK LAW
The Schlich Team
Our clients expect and receive a responsive, friendly, high quality and great value service thanks to our experienced professionals. Our UK and European Patent Attorneys and Chartered Trade Mark Attorneys have a broad range of scientific and technical degrees and Ph.Ds from top UK Universities, and have decades of experience advising at cutting edge of legal and commercial issues and technologies.
We build on our deep experience of prosecution and inter partes proceedings to give the best strategic and practical advice, and to secure the best patent and trade mark protection for our clients’ innovations. Our team does this efficiently, and in a friendly and clear manner, supported by a wider team of highly skilled and experienced legal support staff.
Latest Firm News
James Peel Joins Schlich
We are pleased to announce that we have continued our growth through the acquisition of the long-established Surrey based J. P. Peel & Co Ltd, with effect from 1 February 2026
Simon Wright becomes CIPA President in 2026
We are delighted to announce that Schlich’s very own Simon Wright has begun his term as CIPA president, from 1 January 2026.
New Year Promotions at Schlich
We are delighted to announce that Juliette Boynton has been appointed a Director at Schlich and Sean Hughes has been promoted to Principal.
