IP insights: April 2025

01 April 2025

Welcome to our round up of the most important news and insights in intellectual property.

Recent awards and recognition

Our IP lawyers across the UK and Ireland have been ranked again by WIPR, WTR 100 and Patent 1000. The team has been shortlisted at the Managing IP Awards for Trade Mark Disputes, and Giles Parsons has been nominated for Soft IP Practitioner of the Year.

Copyright and AI in the UK and beyond

Giles and Phoebe’s article in The Trade Mark Lawyer magazine, looks at the contentious reform to copyright legislation in the age of AI, as the government continues to grapple with the balance between innovation and protecting creatives.

Our team also gave their thoughts on the US decision in Thomson Reuters v ROSS Intelligence from a UK perspective.

This discussion is particularly interesting because of what it says about fair use, which is a much wider defence in the US than in the UK, but may still not extend as far as AI companies would like.

Jeanne’s guide to cloud computing

Jeanne Kelly, our very own Top 100 Legal LinkedInfluencer, authored the 2024 Chambers Cloud Computing Guide which is available on Chambers.

Read Chambers guide

The Guide explores the key legal considerations that businesses must consider when using cloud computing, including compliance with data protection and privacy laws, the protection of IP, and the negotiation of effective cloud computing contracts.

Read more in our recent article about the challenge posed by cloud computing.

Glucose monitoring tech and shape trade marks

Eliud Kipchoge wears his because he is a super quick marathon runner. IP Partner Mark Daniels wears his because he is a type 1 diabetic (and a super slow marathon runner). Abbott’s Libre Sense came under the IP spotlight as they sought to enforce its UK 3D mark of the on body glucose monitoring unit against new entrant Sinocare.

Eliud was unavailable for comment and so Mark reflects on the all too predictable outcome at the UK High Court – another failure by a shape mark proprietor to defend validity.

One to watch: Oatly appeals to the Supreme Court

Oatly’s trade mark for "POST MILK GENERATION" was challenged by Dairy UK for being deceptive and prohibited under EU Regulations. The COA found it immaterial that the mark contained two other qualifying words, finding that MILK could not be used in relation to any product which is not “milk”.

With the case headed for the UK SC, Darragh and Shannon look at what this might mean for the alternative food market.

easyGroup keeps on giving

And another one… Giles Parsons, looks at the latest easyGroup case in his article for the annual CITMA review. The case is one of several recent English court decisions about trade marks with limited distinctiveness.