Patents

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The CMS patent team combines patent litigation with one of the largest patent attorney practices within a full-service law firm in Europe, to offer a fully integrated service for our clients. Our patent team also work alongside regulatory, corporate and commercial lawyers (among many other specialists). This means we are truly a “one stop shop” for companies wishing to file and defend or challenge patent, SPC and regulatory exclusivity rights. Our team also regularly provides IP due diligence support for investment, and for corporate deals and transactions. 

We have patent expertise in all major contentious patent jurisdictions in Europe, and notably in France, Germany and Italy – where the UPC central divisions are located. The international perspective allows us to formulate patent strategy (including for the UPC) taking into consideration the nuances of pan-European patent enforcement.

The CMS patent team is delighted to have been recognised in:

Patent Litigation Team

For several decades CMS has represented leading technology and life sciences companies in key IP and patent litigation, at all times bearing their commercial aims in mind. Our patent litigation team is part of a global IP team of 300 lawyers across 40 countries capable of handling all types of disputes via the courts or through ADR. Working with IP litigation teams in all major European jurisdictions, we have considerable experience of devising strategies and coordinating litigation in Europe and around the world. Each client’s strategy is bespoke, based upon achieving the most cost-effective results for our clients. Many of our litigators and patent attorneys hold advocacy qualifications, enabling cost-effective dispute resolution.

Patent Attorney Team

The CMS patent attorney practice disrupts the traditional boutique approach to provide a service that meets the needs of modern business practice. Using proven, robust and efficient processes to manage portfolios through the patenting process, we pour care and attention into every detail, whether a portfolio’s value comes from its size or from the key nature of one or a small number of cases.

This is a people business, and we invest time in understanding the individuals we work with and their organisations.  Our clients’ patent portfolios are under constant scrutiny and clients need to know they are in the very best hands.  Our attorneys have long-held passions for the sectors we work in, with many having PhDs and/or industry experience in their chosen area. Always seeking to do things better, we have a culture of challenging each other and questioning how we work. This leads to constant improvements and the best solutions for each client.

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Patent Drafting and Prosecution
Patent drafting, filing and prosecution is our bread and butter and every step of the process is directed towards achieving our client’s desired
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EP Patent Opposition and Appeal
Granted European patents can be opposed by third parties at the European Patent Office (EPO). EPO opposition and appeals are a specialist area of prac
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Patent Litigation
The CMS patent litigation team deals with all types of patent disputes including:patent infringement patent validity patent ownershipSPC ent
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Unified Patent Court
The introduction of the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) is one of the most significant IP developments in Europe for decades.  
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Patent Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC)
A Supplementary Protection Certificate is a national right effectively extending the protection of patented active ingredients present in pharmaceutic
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Patent Due Diligence and FTO
The freedom to operate process generally comprises an in-depth search and review of publicly available patent documents that relate to your commercial
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EP Patent Health Check
In view of the increasing divergence between patent practice in Europe and other jurisdictions, clients have found our EP "health check" service of be
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CMS Patent Renewals Service
CMS is able to manage portfolios of renewal payments across the globe for trade marks, patents and designs. Portfolios are actively managed using a on
Patent com­mer­cial­isa­tion
CMS Umbra
Protecting innovation from start to finish
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Advising the Board

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23/11/2023
Patentability of AI inventions: High Court offers a helping hand (Emotional...
Is a deep learning AI system which recommends similar songs to its users patentable? Or is it a computer program ‘as such’ and therefore excluded under s.1(2)(c) Patents Act 1977? The High Court has...
21/11/2023
EP Case Law in Brief: Proof of common general knowledge
It is a common sight for a patent attorney – an EPO Examiner acknowledges that a claim is novel, but asserts a lack of inventive step over ‘D1’ in combination with ‘common general knowledge’...
16/11/2023
CMS and IPDefine Announce Global Patent Initiative
International law firm CMS, in collaboration with patent AI specialist IPDefine Ltd., have developed a cutting-edge turnkey solution which is poised to make intellectual property monetisation more accessible...
07/11/2023
Description amendments at the EPO – the Appellant agrees with the need...
Description amendments bringing the content of the description in line with the allowed claims remain a controversial topic in the European practice. As reported previously, the Board of Appeal in T0056/21...
06/10/2023
The European Patent Office (EPO) ‘10-day rule’
By the Decision of the Administrative Council of 13 October 2022, a number of Rules of the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention have been amended. These include Rule 126 (Notification...
28/09/2023
EP Case Law in Brief: Erroneous Disclosures
“Mistakes in a document do not in themselves constitute prior art such as to prevent the grant of a patent.”So begins section I.C. 4.9 of the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal. This statement, and...
15/08/2023
AI in healthcare inventions – technical or not technical?
SummaryRecent European Patent Office (EPO) Board of Appeal case T 1910/20 sits among a number of decisions regarding the discussion of what constitutes technical character in the field of healthcare...
28/07/2023
Description amendments at the EPO – uncertainty for not (too) much longer?...
Amending the description to conform with the claims remains a challenging element of European patent practice, particularly in view of the divergent case law in the subject, and varied approaches taken...
09/06/2023
EU Commission proposes a new licensing framework for standard essential...
The European Commission published on 27 April 2023 various proposals for legislative changes related to patents. One of these concerns the introduction of a new licensing framework for standard essential...
31/05/2023
UPC – the “Long-arm” jurisdiction
UPC Long-arm jurisdictionWith the UPC set to open its doors on 1 June 2023, just how far might its reach extend?Unless a European patent has been opted out of the UPC, the national courts and the UPC...
05/05/2023
Serious irregularity: English High Court reaffirms high bar for challenging...
The English High Court has considered the scope of challenges to awards for serious irregularity on the ground that the arbitral tribunal failed in its duty to act fairly. The Court held that there was...
06/04/2023
G1/22 and G2/22 – Preliminary opinion of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
On 21 March 2023 the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) issued a preliminary opinion in consolidated cases G1/22 and G2/22 (“pri­or­ity”), which provides some initial insight into the possible outcome of...