Welcome to the first edition of Biobrief for 2018. As usual across the life sciences sector there is a lot of activity reflecting the breadth and dynamism of the sector. We aim to support your business by providing you with a variety of articles reflecting both recent case law and major legal changes on the horizon which will have implications for your business.
Owners of IP rights are always looking for new ways to maximise their rights when existing registered rights expire. The issues surrounding whether a particular colour can acquire distinctiveness and how survey evidence can be used to support a case for passing off are discussed in this context.
We also have some very practical articles written by our experts in company law and property law. The first of these considers the key corporate shareholdings percentages to consider when engaging new personnel from overseas and those relevant to R & D tax credits and other tax reliefs.
Many early stage technology companies start their corporate life in shared incubator space. In the second of these practical articles, we provide some information from a UK property law perspective on what to look out for in a lease for collaborative research space.
No edition would be complete without some mention of Brexit and the implications for the life sciences sector. The new Clinical Trials Regulation is discussed in this context as we look forward to this new EU regulatory regime and consider how this might affect clinical trials in the UK after Brexit.
As a firm we continue to attend key life sciences sector events both in the UK and overseas and Rachel Bradley, author of the ‘The new European clinical trial regulation and Brexit’ article below, recently presented at the Genesis summit 2017. This month we have sponsored the 4th Annual Future of Healthcare Investor Forum at the London Stock Exchange and Chris Shelley, partner and head of life sciences at Penningtons Manches chaired one of the panel discussions with companies who provide products and therapies for respiratory diseases.
As the life sciences sector is one which relies heavily on patent rights it is crucial to keep up to date with the developments in preparation for the Unified Patent Court and the Unitary Patent. This is important for any technology company in the context of managing their European patent portfolios and enforcement strategy. We provide a brief update on where things stand in the light of the recent legal challenge to ratification by Germany.
Our lawyers across the firm work closely with the life sciences sector so please do contact any one of them for further specialist advice and support in their area of expertise on any issue which affects your company. We hope you enjoy this edition and would love to receive any feedback from you and any suggestions you have for areas which you would like to see covered in future editions.
Dr Eileen McMorrow Editor BioBrief Senior Associate, IP, IT and Commercial London
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