IP & Technology Blog

On the 15th December the European Commission struck an agreement with the European Parliament and the European Council over EU Data Protection reform. The aim of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is to harmonise the current data protection laws in place across the EU member states. Because the new law is a “regulation” instead of a “directive” means it will be directly applicable to all EU member states without a need for national implementing legislation. Enforcement of the new regulation is expected to start in 2018. Here I outline some of the key changes proposed so far that...

The Rise of Synthetic Biology-Synbiobeta comes to EdinburghPosted on Oct 12, 2015 by Dr. Julie Nixon  | 0 CommentsLiina and I were lucky enough to attend Synbiobeta Activate! last week, an event to formally launch the UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology at the University of Edinburgh. An excellent line up of speakers were well received by an audience composed of both academics and companies. “Bio geeks” and “Business geeks” (as one speaker coined) coming together to celebrate the growing synthetic biology commercial ecosystem.John Cumbers of SynBioBeta opened the event, highlighting the growing market for synthetic biology -over half a billion...

Clone Wars and Food Fights: A step back for European Science?Posted on Sep 14, 2015 by Dr. Julie Nixon  | 0 CommentsAs the Roslin Institute prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep (the first animal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell) next year, the news last week was that the European Commission had voted to ban cloning of all farm animals, as well as the sale of cloned livestock, their offspring and products derived from them. However the ban does not cover cloning for research purposes, and does not prevent efforts to clone...

Changes in UK Consumer LawPosted on Aug 20, 2015 by Dr. Julie Nixon  | 0 CommentsCurrently, UK consumer law is a mix of EU-derived and UK-specific rules. The Consumer Rights Bill will replace some, but not all, of the UK’s current legislation with regard to business to consumer transactions, including the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (these two acts will still apply to business to business transactions).What’s New?Digital ContentFor the first time rights on digital content will be set out in legislation. The CRA will give consumers a right to repair or...

Pieces Come Together for LegoPosted on Jul 16, 2015 by Iain McDougall  | 0 Comments The iconic Lego group, the plastic toy company based in Billund, Denmark has successfully retained trademark protection for its “minifigure”. The Community trade mark (CTM) secures the three-dimensional minifigure that we recognise as a lego person in all its guises from the original “happy face”, to Harry Potter. The decision issued last month was challenged by Lancashire based company Best-Lock, who argued that the defining feature of the minifigure was its ability to interlock with other building blocks. Had this argument been accepted by the General Court of...