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A.A.Thornton & Co patent attorneys Mike Jennings and Nikesh Patel attended the Pat-Tech Exchange event on the 6th – 7th June in Dublin. The event provided a great opportunity for knowledge sharing, taking account of the different perspectives of large multinationals and SMEs.
Mike moderated a discussion of substantive patent law harmonisation and preparations for the unitary patent with Marco Alemán (Director of Patent Law Division at WIPO) and Michael Fröhlich (Director of European and International Legal Affairs at the EPO). Mike thanked WIPO and the EPO for their ongoing efforts to provide reliable, efficient procedures and systems that allow European patent attorneys to accurately predict outcomes and allow industry to succeed. Mike and Michael are both involved in the EPO’s new quality working group within the Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO). The speakers noted that the cost effectiveness of the unitary patent will be boosted by reduced renewal agent fees and reduced national validation costs.
Other presentations included topics such as “Challenges for IP Management in view of Digitalization”, “Perspectives on Innovation in the AI Future”, “White Space Innovation and the IP for Disruption”, and “Navigating FRAND & Standard Essential Patents”.
Mike Jennings commented: “This was a very well organised event, with some excellent presentations and a particularly good open discussion of the IP challenges faced by different industries and companies. It was a great pleasure to share insights with representatives from industry including IP managers from large corporations, startups and universities. We are helping a lot of companies to evaluate inventions and analyse competitor activity, and to review their patent filing strategies. Our clients value our commercial perspective and identification of the most cost-effective solutions to achieve their objectives. IP advisors must understand clients’ business objectives and competitive pressures to ensure IP strategies are well aligned with corporate objectives. Our focus on this is one of the reasons why client feedback has put us at the top of Legal 500 rankings 3 years in a row.”
Category: News | Author: Mike Jennings, Nikesh Patel | Published: | Read more
