Four related patent applications by IGT, the supplier of gaming machines and systems, were found unpatentable by both the UK Intellectual Property Office and the High Court. The games in question, which gave the player a free bonus game, were denied patent protection as they were concerned with the method of the game rather than the apparatus for playing it. This is the latest in a series of cases dealing with subject matter which is inherently unpatentable in England, including methods of doing business and software "as such".

Another reminder that the first owner of commissioned software (and other types of copyright works) is the developer and not the commissioner, unless he's an employee, or there is an express agreement which says that the copyright will be owned by the commissioner.

Direct Line has successfully opposed esure's application to register its mouse-on-wheels device as a trade mark on the grounds that it would dilute the reputation that Direct Line has in its well known telephone-on-wheels trade mark.

There's finally a chink in the armour of brand owners who rely on trade mark registrations to prevent genuine product being sourced and supplied (usually cheaper) from abroad and outside their "authorised" distribution channels.

In an important change to the Trade Marks Registry practice, it will become easier from 1 October to secure UK trade mark registrations. However, anyone who already has a registered trade mark will in the future need to be more proactive in order to stop others from registering conflicting marks.