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Get your opinions here!

27 November 2009

It isn’t only the lawyers at Browne Jacobson who offer opinions. At a recent seminar, I was reminded by the UK Intellectual Property Office that its opinion service is very much open for business.

The UK-IPO offers opinions on the infringement or validity of a patent. Whilst the opinions are non-binding, they can be valuable as a negotiation tool and can be instructive in assisting the decision as to whether to proceed with patent enforcement, or clearing the path for some particular technology. Plus, says the UK-IPO, they can be obtained within 3 months of a request and only cost £200. One word of warning though – the opinions are published documents and so sometimes circumstances can dictate that confidential opinions from legal advisers may be the more suitable route!

Since the service commenced, there have been just over 100 opinions given by the UK-IPO and the general view is that uptake on this service is on the increase – it’s certainly one of the options to consider when considering whether it’s you or a competitor who has exclusivity in relation to key innovation.

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