Beck Greener ranked as a Leading Firm in The Legal 500 UK 2026
Beck Greener News
October 2025
Beck Greener is delighted to announce that we have once again been recognised as a leading firm in the latest Legal 500 UK rankings for patents and trade marks.
We are especially proud to have retained our prestigious Client Satisfaction accreditation for the second year running. This accolade is awarded to only 10% of firms in each jurisdiction, and we are one of only eight UK firms to achieve this distinction.
For over 150 years, Beck Greener has been helping clients protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. This recognition reflects our long-standing commitment to excellence in client service and satisfaction.
The Legal 500 highlights Beck Greener’s expertise in managing global trade mark portfolios, handling complex patent matters, and acting in high-profile disputes. Individual recognition in this year’s edition includes:
Leading Partners: Avi Freeman and Ian Bartlett
Next Generation Partner: Catherine Jewell
Leading Associate: Duncan Morgan
Client Feedback
We are deeply grateful to our clients who took part in the Legal 500 research process. Feedback published in this year’s edition includes:
“The team has a winning mentality with the legal capabilities to achieve those wins.”
“They don’t just offer legal advice – they provide insights and a strong grasp of our underlying technology.”
“Beck Greener makes the complicated simple.”
We would like to thank our clients and colleagues for their support and recognition.
Read the full editorial in The Legal 500 directory here.
Recent news & updates
Find out more Court of Appeal Clarifies Limits of Trade Mark Exhaustion in AGA Cooker Conversion Dispute
Case Reports
August 2026
In AGA Rangemaster Group Ltd v UK Innovations Group Ltd the Court of Appeal has provided useful guidance on the limits of the trade mark exhaustion defence where genuine branded goods are refurbished and modified by an independent third party.
From coffee capsules to spray cans, the difficulty of relying on a staple product defence to infringement before the UK courts
Case Reports
July 2026
In the recent decision of the UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in No Climb Products limited v Gas Safe Europe Limited (full copy of the decision available via this link: No Climb Products Ltd v Gas Safe Europe Ltd [2026] EWHC 908 (IPEC) (22 April 2026)), the judge needed to consider infringement of a claim covering a form of apparatus for testing a gas or smoke detector requiring both a spray container and a moveable spacer member whereby the apparatus is relatively compact when not in use but a minimum distance is maintained between the spray outlet and detector when testing is underway. The defendant (‘Gas Safe’) was held to infringe a valid claim by supply of its testing product ‘DetectaReach’® consisting of an aerosol spray can and a separable spacer.
An Own Goal on Appeal...
Case Reports
July 2026
In a recent decision, the UK High Court dismissed an appeal against an earlier decision of a UKIPO hearing officer finding claims 1 and 10 of a patent to be novel and inventive.
Beck Greener comment on Emotional Perception
Case Reports
February 2026
The recently handed down judgement of the UK Supreme Court heralds a new era in the law of patent protection in the UK for Computer Implemented Inventions (CII). It is unlikely that the ultimate result of examination of UK applications will be very different once (small details like) the approach to inventive step are worked out. The way we’ll get there though will be very different. Companies and inventors in this area will need to have this in mind when applying for patents in this area.
Court of Appeal Provides Guidance on Doctrine of Equivalents under UK Patent Law
Case Reports
February 2026
A battle between Pelican Healthcare and Salts Healthcare in the marketing of ostomy bags has now reached the Court of Appeal (Salts Healthcare Ltd v Pelican Healthcare Ltd [2026] EWCA Civ 93, 19 February 2026).
Beck Greener ranked in the Silver Tier once again by WTR 1000
Beck Greener News
January 2026
We’re on the up (again), having been ranked in the Silver Tier for both Enforcement and Litigation and Prosecution and Strategy in the 2026 edition of the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals. We are also Recommended for Transactions, the highest ranking awarded in that category.
Update on the CRISPR-Cas9 IP saga at the EPO - blows for both the Broad & CVC camps but Toolgen ends 2025 with success
Case Reports
December 2025
Both the Broad ‘camp’ and CVC ‘camp’ (the University of California, the University of Vienna and Emmanuelle Charpentier) have recently suffered disappointment at opposition oral proceedings before the EPO Opposition Division (OD) in relation to claims broadly encompassing use of Cas9 nucleases in eukaryotic cells. In contrast, Toolgen’s EP3346003B concerning delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) to cleave plant cell DNA was upheld in November 2025 with reliance on a main claim merely requiring PEG-mediated delivery of a Cas9 RNP into protoplasts.
EPO Board of Appeal Decision emphasises that priority entitlement for a medical use claim requires more than finding words and dosages
Case Reports
October 2025
In recently issued Decision T0883/23 of EPO Appeal Board 3.3.07, the Board explained at length its decision to refuse priority entitlement for a European patent claim relating to treatment for a particular cancer. This was despite the claim wording being arguably clearly derivable from the earliest priority application (P1) with reference to a dose escalation/de-escalation study.
Beck Greener Rises to Band Two in Chambers & Partners UK 2026 Rankings
Beck Greener News
October 2025
Beck Greener is proud to announce its promotion to Band Two in the Chambers & Partners UK 2026 guide for Intellectual Property: Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (UK-wide).
EPO Appeal Board Decision T0136/24 provides guidance that a Phase III clinical trial need not prevent patentability of patent claims of later date re the same treatment regime
Case Reports
October 2025
Recently, the written decision of EPO Appeal Board 3.3.04 appeared which upheld Sanofi’s EP2493466B covering a cancer treatment for metastatic castration – resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) despite the earliest priority date being preceded by release of information on the relevant Phase III clinical trial.
Beck Greener ranked as a Leading Firm in The Legal 500 UK 2026
Beck Greener News
October 2025
Beck Greener is very pleased to report that we have once again been ranked as a leading firm in the latest Legal 500 patent and trade mark UK rankings. We are also pleased to have received a prestigious Client Satisfaction endorsement within the guide and are one of only 8 UK firms to have achieved this. This is an accolade awarded to only 10% of firms in each jurisdiction. For over 150 years, we have been solving clients’ IP problems, and client service and satisfaction are always a priority.
Advice from the UK Courts on asking the right question whereby a simple chemical modification can be found non-obvious
Case Reports
August 2025
A recent Appeal Court judgment concerning the University of California European patent (UK) covering the prostate cancer drug enzalutamide and exclusively licensed to Astellas has resulted in generic versions of the drug remaining barred from entering the UK market.
A UK Court of Appeal judgment opines on the skilled person for obviousness assessment as an anthropomorphic concept in upholding a key Moderna patent
Case Reports
August 2025
The EWCA has recently provided a significant legal victory for Moderna in upholding validity of its European Patent (UK) no. 3590949 (EP949) concerning modified mRNA and thus infringement by Pfizer/BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty®
Beck Greener Welcomes Graham Watt & Co. to the Firm
Beck Greener News
August 2025
Beck Greener LLP is delighted to announce that Graham Watt & Co., a respected intellectual property law firm with a proud history dating back to 1955, has joined our practice.
EPO decision G1/23 clarifies that irreproducibility does not exclude a marketed product from the state of the art but related evidential issues may still arise
Case Reports
July 2025
EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) decision G1/23 has clarified that a marketed product cannot be ignored as prior art on the basis that reproducibility was not possible by a person skilled in the art at the relevant date. This decision is of particular interest in relation to complex polymers and other complex products where inability of full characterisation prevents manufacture by others beyond the originator.
Bananas Split? – Unified Patents Court Costs Provisions for Revocation
IP News
July 2025
The Unified Patents Court has its own newly-drafted procedural rules, different from those in national courts.
EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision G1/24 harmonises the EPO with the UPC over claim interpretation but leaves more to be answered
Case Reports
June 2025
The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) has issued its decision G1/24 addressing how patent claims before the EPO should be interpreted when assessing patentability and in so doing has sought to harmonise approach before the EPO with approach of the UPC.
Beck Greener Ranked Among Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms by the Financial Times
Beck Greener News
June 2025
We’re proud to share that Beck Greener has once again been recognised in the Financial Times’ 2025 list of Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms — marking our 7th consecutive year on this prestigious list since 2019.
UK court in Samsung Bioepis v Alexion adds to recent lessons on need to be pernickety when drafting patent specifications
Case Reports
June 2025
In the recent UK High court case re Alexion’s EP (UK)3167888 [Samsung Bioepis v Alexion [2025] EWHC 1240 (Pat) , Alexion failed to overcome an error in the definition of their therapeutic antibody eculizumab - definition of the light chain of the antibody as consisting of a sequence designated as SEQ ID NO:4 but in fact specifying an extended light chain sequence with an additional 22 amino acid leader sequence.
Beck Greener patent team comprehensively praised in IAM 1000 2025
Beck Greener News
June 2025
The patent team at Beck Greener has been praised comprehensively by the researchers for this year’s IAM 1000 which identifies the world’s leading patent professionals. The commentary below includes quotes from our clients to whom we are very grateful for such glowing praise.
