Patents

Welcome to the home of Patents on Law-Now.

IP is key to obtaining a competitive advantage for any business. Here, you will find patent related articles written by the CMS patent team. 

The articles draw upon our experience of advising some of the world’s most significant technology and life science companies for whom strong IP, and a clear IP strategy, is essential. Lawyers from the full service IP team deliver Law-Now commentary and analysis and you can read about UPC, issues around patent drafting and prosecutions, SPC applications, oppositions and appeals before the European Patent Office, and strategic management considerations.

Recent Articles

  •  
    27/02/2025
    International

    Cosmetics Patents

    The global cosmetics market has grown consistently since 2004, reaching a value of USD 676.9bn in 2023 and an estimated USD 716.2bn in 2024, dominated by major multinationals like L’Oréal, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble. While niche and challenger brands have emerged, only a few—such as Fenty Beauty, The Ordinary, Winona, and Adolph—have scaled beyond USD 400m in global retail sales. The sector remains resilient against economic turbulence, with key trends including shifting geographical growth strategies, increased demand for wellness and sustainable products,...
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  •  
    15/01/2025
    China

    2025 – Topics that may Concern You

    Companies doing business in China constantly have to deal with changes in regulations and new laws. This will also continue in 2025.Topics such as the new PRC Company Law, new PRC Tariff Law, PRC Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items, network data security management, data transfer, opening up capital markets to foreign investment, and raise of statutory retirement age of employees etc. will continue to be a concern for many companies in China in 2025.Complying with regulatory requirements is one of the key challenges for foreign companies and investors in China, not only in terms of...
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  •  
    11/12/2024
    Germany

    UPC: (Even) more cases soon?

    Two recently published decisions could pave the way for even more proceedings before the UPC.The incentives come from completely different directions: In the case of AIM Sport v. Supponor Oy et al., the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) had to decide whether a national action brought before the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) on 1 June 2023, precludes the possibility of reassigning a European patent that the patent proprietor had previously withdrawn from the exclusive jurisdiction of the UPC (so-called "opt-out") back to the exclusive jurisdiction...
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  •  
    02/12/2024
    Europe

    How to achieve a European Patent Office technical effect in mathematical healthcare patents

    More light is shed on how to achieve a European Patent Office technical effect in mathematical healthcare patents in a recent Board of Appeal case.A patent using maths on blood sample data survived opposition in European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal case number: T1423/22.It is interesting to compare a few recent EPO Board of Appeal decisions in this field in the following table.T1423/22 board 3.3.08G1/19 was referred toPatent survived oppositionComparing a standard value with a value computed from an equation using values measured from blood samples (with the implied aim of diagnosing renal...
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  •  
    18/11/2024
    Germany

    UPC: Urgent or not – that is the question here

    In a recently published order, the Lisbon Local Division has further clarified the requirements for granting provisional measures.We have already reported on provisional measures before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on various occasions (see for example here). The Court of Appeal of the UPC has also already commented on the requirements for the granting of provisional measures. However, this does not prevent the various Local Divisions of the Court of First Instance from deciding in particular on individual questions regarding the requirements for the granting of provisional measures and thus...
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  •  
    13/11/2024
    Europe

    AI in healthcare inventions - uncertainty relating to processing medical data

    European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal decision T 1741/22 has cast doubt on the circumstances of when a mathematical method may be considered to contribute to technical character in the processing of medical data. Of particular note, this decision deviates from both an earlier decision (T 2681/16) and EPO Guidelines G-II, 3.3 (citing particular examples in the EPO Guidelines as “erroneous”), raising concerning questions as to how inventions relating to the processing of medical data, or indeed data more generally, might fare at the EPO.  BackgroundIn the healthcare field,...
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