HGF

In today’s fast-evolving energy sector, innovation is essential – but so is knowing where to innovate. Understanding the intellectual property (IP) landscape is more than a legal exercise, it’s a strategic advantage. Landscape searching helps companies identify where others are filing patents, where gaps exist, and where opportunities lie. Whether you’re working on solar pane...

Inadvertent or accidental loss of patent rights can be distressing for patent holders and indeed for IP practitioners. The most common reason for restoration is when a patent has lapsed due to non-payment of a renewal fee. As soon as you realise a renewal fee has been missed and a patent has lapsed, don’t panic. Mistakes happen and human error does not always mean that your p...

Key takeaways

National courts have diverged on the interpretation of the EU Court of Justice’s latest decisions on SPCs for combination products – in particular on whether data in the application as filed are required for a combination product to meet the CJEU’s test of “falling under the invention” of the basic patent and be eligible for SPC protectio...

HGF has strengthened its European Life Sciences practice with the appointment of Dr Russell Thom, who joins the firm as a Partner 1st August 2026.

Russell brings more than 25 years’ experience advising universities, SMEs and multinational organisations on intellectual property strategy across the life sciences sector. His appointment adds significant s...

Rebecca Field and Lee Curtis discuss when EU Registered and Unregistered Designs and UK Supplemental Unregistered Design Rights are considered as being new and having individual character. These are important concepts when considering the validity of such rights. Rebecca and Lee apply those concepts to two fashion IP cases.