News
V.O. employees follow AED course
V.O. is the sponsor of the Dutch Heart Foundation (Hartstichting) that stimulates active scientific research into solutions for heart and vascular diseases. As part of the sponsorship agreements, employees from V.O. were able to follow a resuscitation course provided by the Red Cross. Continue reading
V.O. and Clariant jointly organise Nagoya seminar
On 26 October, the seminar ‘Nagoya Protocol – implications and consequences of using genetic resources’ was on the agenda. This event was jointly organised by the V.O. offices in Munich and Clariant, a Swiss chemicals concern that operates worldwide. Continue reading
IP Academy well attended
This year’s IP Academy was scheduled between 1 and 15 November and saw broad participation from all sectors of our Dutch client database. Continue reading
Plants can be patentable after all
Classically bred plants should be held patentable once again. Last Wednesday the EPO Board of Appeal came to this remarkable decision. On July 1st last year the EPO – on explicit advice by the European member states – introduced guidelines that seemed to definitely exclude plants obtained by an essentially biological process from patentability. But it was not so definite after all, so it appeared this week. Continue reading
The Ocean Cleanup at work
After an extensive trial phase with a U-shaped tube system, The Ocean Cleanup has finally begun to sweep the ocean clean, under the charismatic leadership of Boyan Slat. This all took place under an intense media spotlight. Continue reading
Up to 1 January 2019: 3 trademark applications for the price of 1
Starting 1 January 2019, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) will introduce fee adjustments for trademark registrations. Continue reading
Patents granted for The Ocean Cleanup
On 14 and 15 November the first two Dutch national patents were granted for The Ocean Cleanup system that allows plastic to be collected in the ocean. The corresponding international patent application has also been published. The innovative aspect of this system lies in the way in which the system brings the plastic together; it makes use of natural forces: wind, waves and sea current. Therefore it can efficiently collect the plastic without an external energy source. Continue readingThe Nagoya Protocol and its impact on your research
The Nagoya Protocol is often believed to apply exclusively to the plant breeding sector. However, the influence of the protocol reaches much further. Almost everyone utilizing genetic resources for research may have to deal with it. From individuals and universities to multinationals in all sectors, everyone needs to check whether their research is covered by the protocol. Continue reading