Home / International / Intellectual Property

International Intellectual Property Law Firm

In today’s knowledge economy, a large part of the value of your business is based on intangible assets and goodwill. Your intellectual property plays a key role in obtaining a competitive advantage. A cohesive IP strategy, including both commercialisation and enforcement, will ensure you get maximum value from your portfolio. With 150 specialist lawyers in 33 countries, we understand your business needs and have worked with some of the best-known brands, from banks to tech and media companies, pharmaceuticals and FMCG companies. This industry-specific approach can help you realise your commercial goals.

The right brands will win the hearts and minds of your customers. The right patents will prevent others exploiting your ideas or provide a substantial barrier to market access. Copyright, know-how and designs also play a vital role. We focus on key sectors relevant to you such as lifesciences, automotive, machinery, manufacturing, consumer products, financial services and TMC. This means you get in-depth industry knowledge as well as legal expertise for the protection of your IP. If you are involved in a dispute, we can guide you through the litigation process.

01/06/2021
CMS Intellectual Property Global Brochure
The pandemic that will define 2020 has put many types of intellectual property in the spotlight – particularly, of course, in life sciences. Who will develop an effective vaccine or vaccines for Covid-19...
13/09/2022
Open secrets? Guarding value in the intangible economy
Some leaks can’t be fixed “Confidential information is like an ice cube... give it to the party who has no refrigerator or will not agree to keep it in one, and by the time of the trial you have just a pool of water.” This, from the so-called Spycatcher case (1987), applies well to corporate assets: fail to store them correctly and all you might have left is an expensive mess.The consequences of even a minor exposure of a trade secret can be huge. As this report reveals, the protection of trade secrets is rightly recognised by most senior executives as a priority issue. But the research also reveals gaps that leave companies unnecessarily exposed to risks. The top named threats – cybersecurity attacks and employee leaks – resonate with what we see impacting our clients. Increased home and remote working is straining security measures and employee loyalty. Added to this, an ‘innovate or die’ attitude in highly-com­pet­it­ive sectors can motivate new joiners to arrive with questionable material from their previous employer, or worse: outright theft between competitors. But while it is easy to focus on the lurking threats from weakened cyber security and disgruntled employees – and they are important – there are more routine actions a company can take to safeguard its secrets than just updating its IT systems or the employee handbook. Commonly, those who most need our help already have a trade secrets policy but have not properly implemented it in relation to the secret in question. Or the policy has not been updated to reflect the intangible assets the business now owns. Or protection was taken for granted.With trade secrets – which for many businesses are strategically more important than a public patent portfolio – it is always costlier and messier to find solutions after a theft or a leak. Identifying the trade secrets and the threats posed to them, combined with rigorous internal processes and well-drafted contracts, can help prevent such problems from happening. Harder, but just as necessary, is engaging hearts and minds in corporate culture, to know why trade secrets are important, why we are all are responsible for protecting them, and what may happen if we do not (to both the company and the individual). In our experience, the businesses with the strongest defences have not only thought strategically about their intangible assets and how best to protect them but are also prepared for the worst. The trick to avoiding an asset becoming a crisis is to be wise before the event.

Feed

29/11/2023
10 CMS partners recognised by Lexology Client Choice Awards 2023
International law firm CMS is pleased to announce that 10 of its partners, across nine different countries, have been recognised by the Lexology Client Choice Awards 2023:Nick Beckett, China, Life Sci­ences Car­oline...
28/11/2023
International Digital Regulation Hub
Following the EU Commission plan “A Europe fit for the digital age”, we have witnessed a tsunami of digital regulations in the EU including DMA and DSA, AI Act, Data Act and there is still more to come.Whilst presenting companies with a tumultuous landscape to navigate, the legal obligations imposed also present opportunities to develop their business in a new digital framework safeguarding responsible business practices, fair competition and personal data.The CMS Digital Regulation Hub is home to our Digital Regulation Tracker Tool, providing an overview of the key regulatory instruments for area of law, sectors and business activities which are critical for decision makers as they adapt to the increasingly digital landscape.In addition to this unique tool, we explore the impact this tsunami of regulation is having for businesses across a variety of industries and how GCs can ride the waves to stay ahead of the curve. Our latest re­port il­lus­trates the key findings across Platforms, Content providers, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Energy & Infrastructure, Banking & Finance and Automotive industries.To discuss how to cope with the challenges of Digital Regulations and to explore the opportunities for your business, please contact one of our International experts.
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
Lawfulness of AI-assisted advertising under the German Unfair Competition...
Anyone using AI for advertising purposes should carefully check whether the intended use of the AI is lawful under unfair competition law.Using artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing and sales is seen...
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
Are arbitration clauses relevant to patent disputes and if yes, why? –...
In a recent series of judgments, the German Federal Patent Court (BPatG) discussed the effects of an arbitration clause contained in a patent and knowhow Licence Agreement and two arbitral awards rendered...
08/11/2023
CMS & GTWN presents The Mobile Century webinar series
The Digital Generation: How AI is shaping our world and exploring the benefits of digital technology.
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...
22/10/2023
ACC Annual Meeting 2023
Meet our experts at booth #712
19/10/2023
APAC IP Update – Autumn 2023
ChinaState Council releases IP measures on further optimising the foreign investment environment and enhancing the attraction of foreign investmentOn 13 August 2023, China’s State Council released the...
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...