Insights

Phase 1 of the EU design reforms took place on 1 May 2025.  Now it is time for phase 2.

One of the big changes that was brought in with phase 1 was the expansion of the definition of a design to include movement, transition and animation of features.  Phase 2 now provides an updated framework for representing designs and it should make representing animations easier.

The oral proceedings were held for G 1/25 and now the patent profession awaits the decision.

For university spin-outs, a patent strategy is central to value creation, funding readiness and effective technology transfer. Yet many founders turn to public AI tools to summarise their inventions, sometimes even sharing confidential details in the hope of drafting patent claims, saving costs on professional advice or filling gaps they haven’t considered.

For many tech start-up founders, using public AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot is second nature to save time/ cut costs.  It’s understandable to also want to use them to explore whether something might be patentable, but, when it comes to patents, that convenience can quietly undermine the very asset they are trying to protect.

Henry Coop recently graduated from the University of Oxford with an MPhys degree specialising in quantum physics and now works as a trainee patent attorney at Dehns. In this article, he reflects on specialising in quantum information processing, condensed matter physics and quantum computing at Oxford, and how that academic background now supports his work in intellectual property and emerging technologies.

Hot on the heels of Luke Littler’s much-discussed application to register his facial image as a trade mark, Taylor Swift’s company TAS Rights Management has filed three new trade mark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) — two audio clips of her voice and one photograph of her on stage.

The recent application by Luke Littler to protect an image of his face as a trade mark in the UK has understandably attracted a lot of media attention. Whilst filing trade mark applications for portrait images is still something of a novelty, the application is likely to represent more than a creative attempt at brand protection, but rather a strategic response to the rapidly evolving threat posed by AI.

Cosmetic giant, Estée Lauder has launched legal proceedings in the High Court against perfumer Jo Malone, her fragrance company Jo Loves, and high street retailer, Zara, for trade mark infringement, passing off, and breach of contract.