The fees for registering and renewing patents are set to increase in April. The Intellectual Property Office has this week published a summary table and new guidance on the changes, which it consulted on last year. There will be an increase to the application fee and a 25% surcharge if it is not paid at the time of filing, as well as fee rises for search and examination, an excess claims fee and an excess pages fee. The IPO says it aims to raise funds and encourage good filing practices.
10 January 2018
Patent fees to rise
MOVERS & SHAKERS
London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy
Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year
Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles
Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family
Foot Anstey—five promotions
Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas
NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’
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