Intellectual Property
We seek to manage and mitigate risk and to maximise the return from intellectual property (IP) assets for the benefit of our clients. We advise on all aspects of the creation, exploitation and enforcement of IP rights.
Our clients operate in a wide range of industry sectors including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare, financial institutions, technology, telecoms, media, sport, consumer goods and retail.
We advise on:
- Disputes covering the full spectrum of intellectual property rights – ranging from complex patent actions to all forms of dispute relating to trade marks, passing off, copyright, database rights, design rights and breach of confidence claims. Our experience encompasses multi-jurisdictional and domestic disputes at every level including proceedings in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the registries including the European Patent Office and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). We regularly advise on cross-border litigation strategy. We also advise on competition litigation, working with lawyers from our Competition group (Competition Litigation) and we have played an innovative role in developing competition law defences to patent infringement actions in the UK Courts.
- IP related agreements - includes trade mark licensing, distribution agreements, sponsorship agreements and franchising deals. Our specialist Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Healthcare team deals with licensing, collaboration and research and development agreements. We also provide strategic advice in managing and commercialising patent and trade mark portfolios.
- Transactional work - includes advising on M&A, disposals and joint ventures where technology or brands are integral to the transaction, structure or value. This may involve establishing sophisticated licensing structures, conducting complex due diligence exercises on very substantial portfolios of patents, trade mark and copyright works and advising on the creation and enforcement of security interests over IP assets.
