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IP STARS Reviews

Overview

Gowling WLG is highly recommended for IP disputes and transactions in the UK. The firm has patent litigators with expertise in the hi-tech and life sciences sectors. It is among the few law firms with a notable design litigation practice. The firm is also recommended for trade mark protection work.

Notable patent litigators: Alexandra Brodie, Paul Inman, Seiko Hidaka, Huw Evans, and Michael Carter.

Notable soft IP lawyers: John Coldham, Kate Swaine, and Dan Smith.

Notable IP transaction lawyers: Luke Kempton, Patrick Duxbury, and Sharmela Kalmer.

Testimonial

2025

"Brilliant teamwork, very good legal knowledge."

"Efficient, knowledgeable, strategic, friendly."

"Reliable, smart and nice people who give clear and timely advice. Their price is OK too."

"Friendly, commercial, and pragmatic. [They] understand our business."

"[They are] really on top of new developments."

"Gowling WLG is one of the best firms to work with given their A-class professionalism and professionals that bring to the table rich experience and knowledge of technology and law. Their openness to new ideas and strategies is amazing."

"The team provide a safe pair of hands and make it easy for the client. We trust them to get on with things because they know their stuff, they keep us updated, and they involve us as required. They are good at managing costs and tend not to go over the agreed budget."

"Their team have unequalled knowledge and expertise but are extremely approachable and pragmatic in their approach. Nice people."

"Alexandra Brodie brings with her an amazing bank of experience in patent space."

"They are excellent. An incredibly strong team with excellent knowledge who also offer expert strategic advice. Plus, they are a pleasure to work with."

"Gowling WLG's team work very well together. They have a good knowledge of the law and apply it well but at the same time keep a clear view on the best commercial outcome for the client."

"They provide good instructions and are very efficient in getting further information as and when required for the purposes of the relevant legal analysis."

"Alex is extremely knowledgeable and provides practical, sound strategic guidance and an excellent work product. She is very available and easy to work with."

"A very thorough, intelligent, hard-working team, with lots of experience."

"Gowling WLG [has] a leading IP practice with some exceptional practitioners. We use them because they provide excellent commercial and strategic advice when patent or trademark litigation is contemplated. They are able to offer innovative commercial solutions without always having to resort to litigation."

"[They have] the breadth of legal knowledge, not only in the UK, but also in Germany and France. Confident, friendly, professional team with complementary skills. We are very impressed with their legal knowledge, court experience, and commercial acumen."

"They are reliable and thoughtful."

"[They provide] thorough, timely and trusted advice."

 

Alex Brodie

"I have been working with Alex Brodie for the last 10+ years on global SEP litigation, including a number of UK FRAND cases, and she has consistently provided my clients with excellent advice, guidance, strategy and execution in multiple litigation matters for multiple clients."

"Alex Brodie is particularly good at keeping in touch with many different litigation streams at once."

Huw Evans

"Huw Evans is an excellent partner who has a good sense of strategy and deals well with the client."

John Coldham

"John Coldham is very knowledgeable about the law, has a great team and at the same time has a very commercial approach to his clients."

2024

"Gowling have an excellent IP and IT team. They are proactive, insightful, and innovative."

"Very technically capable across the board, with a wealth of patent experience and individuals who get to grips with the technology."

"A very diligent and responsive team. They are enjoyable to work with."

"They are proactive, knowledgeable and highly experienced."

"They have top-quality partners and staff. I would single out Alex Brodie, Huw Evans, Matt Hervey. But also good senior directors and associates, namely Michael Carter and Alex Driver."

"The team at Gowling is full of lovely people who are all very friendly. This is particularly helpful during stressful parts of litigation. They are also incredibly hard-working. The senior members of the team in particular are very knowledgeable about FRAND issues and strategy."

"Lots of good people, both at partner and senior associate level. Fun to work with too."

"They have expertise in the area, and are responsive and engaged. They are diligent and responsive. They seek the best outcome for the client with practical advice."

"Alex Brodie and Huw Evans are great partners. They have good client relations and a sound grasp of strategy. The firm has great associates too such as Michael Carter, Alex Driver and Ollie Carpenter."

"Gowling WLG is very good in very high-end but still practical advice. They are great and nice people with knowledge, but very modern and not arrogant."

"They are an experienced and knowledgeable team who work together well with each other, the counsel team and the clients."

Alexandra Brodie

"She has an excellent strategic oversight and tactical grasp. She can analyze highly complex systems and communicate decisions in clear, simple terms. Is foresightful and can react rapidly to unexpected events."

"She is very responsive and on top of the issues."

"She is all-round excellent. Has a laser focus on achieving the client's widest commercial and strategic aims, excellent foresight and great at running her team."

"Excellent grasp of strategy, and also at managing clients."

"She is very engaged in her cases and so has a good grasp of the issues. Combined with a good strategic mind it means she knows how to position the cases in ways that best assist her clients. She is also very good at managing the relationship between client and counsel, even in more difficult circumstances. She is very good at including more junior members of the team in discussions and getting their views. "

"She has good client relations, and a sound grasp of strategy."

 

Paul Inman

"Operates both at the strategic and detailed level; has oversight over the case and its direction as well as getting stuck into the technical detail."

 

John Coldham

"Very bright, knows a lot about the law, and gives great advice."

"Client and matter management."

"He is a very knowledgeable, highly skilled IP litigator. He goes out of his way to assist his clients. He also manages the team of solicitors who work with him well."

 

Michael Carter

"He is fabulously organised, with an exquisite knowledge of a case, and a strong strategic oversight, with a constant eye on client's commercial goals."

"Michael has a very analytical mind and is always on top of every detail. He is great at offering different solutions to problems."

 

Huw Evans

"Commercially focused advice; uses litigation as a piece towards an ultimate commercial goal."

"Has Immense practical experience, seen every kind of problem before and has won every kind of case. Good sense of humour too."

"We are doing a couple of cases. We are also on opposite sides on another. Huw is very persuasive and good with clients."

"Good client relations, sound grasp of strategy. Working with Huw on two cases (as well as being against him on one other – he is a tough opponent)."

Kate Swaine

"Lovely person – so off the beaten track for a UK lawyer. On top of developments and fun to work with."

 

2023

"We value their consummate professionalism and integrity, diversity of thought, deep expertise/skills, and experience in niche areas of IP law."

"We appreciate the quality of advice from a technically strong team, who are commercial and don't charge the earth."

"Their team is very friendly and approachable and they provide excellent advice at a reasonable cost."

"They are a very friendly, approachable team. We appreciate the good client management and the strategic and commercial approach."

"They are very proactive, and very commercial."

"They are responsive, thoughtful, strategic and pay attention to all the details."

"They are very knowledgeable, provide actionable advice and recommendations, are responsive, and have excellent English skills. "

"We value their breadth and depth of experience."

Copyright & related rights

Copyright case studies show contentious and non-contentious copyright work. AI specialist Matt Hervey left the firm for an in-house role in 2024.

Designs

Design case studies show design protection advice and disputes. Coldham is the key contact for design work.

IP transactions

Case studies show a wide range of commercial IP work. The firm advised Etherna and AstraZeneca on their respective licensing and collaboration agreements. Other clients include the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel, Unilever, Mereo Biopharma Group, and Oxford BioTherapeutics. Duxbury is rated as one of the pre-eminent transactional IP lawyers in the UK, and life sciences companies come to him because of his savvy commercial IP advice. Life sciences transaction lawyers Mathilda Davidson and Jenny Davies left the firm in 2024.

Patent

Patent litigation case studies show the firm represented InterDigital in SEP disputes. The firm also advised companies such as Neurim Pharmaceuticals, Molecular Instruments, GlaxoSmithKline, Dyson Technology, and Kanadevia Inova. The patent litigators are supported by a team of associates and senior lawyers such as Nick Cunningham. Former head of IP and veteran patent litigator Gordon Harris left the firm in 2024.

Trade mark

Case studies show trade mark protection strategy, prosecution and enforcement work. Clients include IATA, Starbucks, Oatly, We Love Holidays, Baylis & Harding, Longchamp, and Major League Baseball. In February 2024, the firm launched Saturn, an AI-powered online brand protection service.