Current news

SEMINAR COUNTDOWN ...

... register now for

• the online International Intellectual Patent Practice Seminar on September 21, in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law, WIPO and K&W, and

• our European Intellectual Property Seminar from October 1 to 4 in Freising, Germany.

We look forward to your registration!

"EU DESIGN LAW: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR REGISTERED COMMUNITY DESIGNS"

an article by Verena Schladt, published in The Trademark Lawyer, Issue 4 2023 of CTC Legal Media.

REGISTER NOW …

for the online International Intellectual Patent Practice Seminar
in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law, WIPO, international practitioners and K&W

on September 21, 2023.

Get more information and register online.
We look forward to your participation!

THE "DRAIN FAIRY"...

... the somewhat different fragrance stone for the sink that keeps the drain pipe clean. To see how a change in the designation of the subject-matter of the invention, together with a functional indication, can lead to an inventive step, read our new blog post at "Shark Tank of Patents".

EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SEMINAR FREISING 2023

TIME FOR A GET-TOGETHER!

The program for our 33rd Seminar from October 1 to 4, 2023 in Freising is now online.
Find out more here and register! We are looking forward to seeing you!

FUTURE OF THE UPC CENTRAL DIVISION WILL BE AGAIN THREEFOLD

Italy, France, and Germany have recently reached a consensus on the redistribution of competences that were previously assigned to London within the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The tripartite discussions concluded with an agreement, which was presented during a meeting of the Administrative Committee on June 2, 2023. With London's role becoming obsolete after Brexit, the proposed amendment to the Agreement aims to reallocate responsibilities among the three primary seats of the UPC central division.

According to the proposed changes:

• Milan will assume jurisdiction over IPC Section A patents, which encompass human necessities;
• Munich will take charge of IPC Section C patents, which include fields like chemistry and metallurgy.
• Paris will be entrusted with the responsibility of handling Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) related to Sections A and C.

Member States will meet again on June 26, 2023 for reaching a final decision which will then come into effect within 12 months.
Meanwhile, the allocation of cases to the Paris seat and Munich section will be provisionally governed as decided by the Presidium on May 8, 2023.

See more details

"IN FOCUS: BORDER SEIZURE"

an article by Christian Thomas, published in The Patent Lawyer, Issue May/June 2023 of CTC Legal Media.

VENI, VIDI, VICI ... ALMOST

After a three-year's break, we competed in this year's Bavarian Patent Attorneys' Table Football Tournament in aid of the Child Health Foundation with two teams:

Kuhnen & Wacker I (Rainer K. Kuhnen & Ulrich C. Wagner)
Kuhnen & Wacker II (Stefan Hofstetter-Spona & Gerald Vogel).

Kuhnen & Wacker II finished in 2nd place and Kuhnen & Wacker I in 3rd place. We had to surrender only to the well-deserved winning team of the law firm 2SPL.
Once again a nice and successful tournament for a good cause! Many thanks to all organizers, sponsors and donors.

from the left: Rainer K. Kuhnen, Gerald Vogel, Stefan Hofstetter-Spona

"GERMAN FEDERAL COURT OF JUSTICE ON THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION FROM GOOGLE"

an article by Detlef von Ahsen, published in The Trademark Lawyer, Issue 2 2023 of CTC Legal Media.

"HICCS…"

Our first blog post in connection with the American startup show "Shark Tank" is about a special drinking straw named "HiccAway" that promises fast and effective help against hiccups.

We take a closer look at the patent.