Welcome to Greenshoots
Greenshoots is a collection of fresh intellectual property insight, analysis and commentary on the issues that matter most to those who invent, manage and protect intellectual property, written by the IP specialists of Appleyard Lees.
Now that you’re here, why not take a look around?

Let’s ask artificial intelligence: how good is your grammar?
Parminder and Simon look at this Artificial Intelligence based business, and provide advice on whether their AI technology is patentable.

T1989/18: No legal basis for description conformity requirement
Following a 2021 Board of Appeal decision, patent applications cannot be refused on the grounds that the description describes something that is not (or no longer) claimed.

Successful copyright claim for the Duchess of Sussex
In early 2021, the High Court of England and Wales found that Associated Newspapers Limited, , had infringed copyright belonging to the Duchess of Sussex and unlawfully invaded her privacy. We analyse what led to the decision of infringement in the Duchess’ case.

Progress and promise for green plastics: an IP perspective
A recent EPO report on plastic recycling and plastic alternatives provided an analysis of innovation in technology areas such as chemical and biological recycling, and bioplastics. We discuss the findings.

A brief guide to patenting surgical inventions in Europe
European patent attorney Andrew Mullins looks at patenting surgical inventions.

A sense of déjà vu – M&S v Aldi
Trainee patent attorney Mykhailo Pokrachynskyi explains the latest legal proceedings between M&S and Aldi.

Non-Fungible Tokens: digital commercialisation with caveats
What are non-fungible tokens (NFTS) and what are the copyright issues around owning an NFT?

Protecting IP in plant-based ‘meat-substitutes’
Innovation in the plant-based meat sector is aiming to help to solve some of the problems associated with animal-meat production.

The Greenshoots Podcast by Appleyard Lees – episode 23: Routes into a career as an IP attorney
In this episode of the podcast, we are joined by trade mark attorney Cherry Shin and trainee patent attorney Jonathan Foster to discuss careers in IP.