Reviews

Practice area

IP STARS Reviews

Overview

Boutique firm Wiggin is highly recommended for contentious and non-contentious soft IP matters, particularly copyright and trade mark work. IP Star Sara Ashby now leads the firm's IP practice. The key soft IP litigators in the firm are Rachel Alexander, John Colbourn and Michael Browne. Alexander specialises in copyright work. Another copyright specialist in the firm is Ted Shapiro, who heads the firm’s Brussels office. Ashby leads on patent instructions. Another notable lawyer in the practice is former in-house IP counsel Calum Smyth, who understands innovation and IP protection in the the financial sector. In November 2020, the firm strengthened its TMT offering by acquiring entertainment boutique Purewal & Partners and launching a new telecoms practice.

The firm is also recommended for IP transactions work. Alexander Ross and Charles Moore are recommended for IP-related transactions in the entertainment and media sector.

Testimonial

2023

"They are very responsive and easy to communicate with, in addition to being technically excellent."

"The team are highly proactive and we value their insightful and out-of-the-box thinking."

"Joanne Gibbs and John Colbourn were very knowledgeable and provided excellent advice. They were friendly and professional, and the quality of their work was excellent. It was clear that they researched both our company and the other company involved to arrive at their excellent advice, and it was clear that they paid a lot of attention to details. The letter they sent the conflicting company was very convincing, which ultimately led to our desired outcome. Also, they were very upfront and transparent regarding their legal fees. We achieved our desired outcome within our budget and at a very reasonable cost."

"We appreciate their responsiveness and technical expertise."

"I appreciate that they have depth of experience across all trademark, copyright and internet/domain name issues. They appreciate our business needs and provide practical advice to resolve our issues in a timely matter. We view them as a valuable part of our team."

"They are very responsive, a team of counsels always there to reply and help in any inquiries. They are professional and know their field very well – on numerous occasions they have suggested successful ways to overcome or deal with an issue. Our portfolio is very lengthy, but they are aware exactly of what is going on, they are up to date with the industry news and they apply all this to their work."

"We value the seriously good copyright expertise, intellectual engagement with all issues faced in proceedings, and that there are no big egos to manage!"

"The teams are very dedicated and knowledgeable. They do more than just providing the legal facts as they think commercially as well. They are good at pointing out all considerations and provide practical advice."

"They were thorough, sensitive to businesses needs and provide clear and timely advice to help navigate the legal issues at hand. "

"They are practical and strategic."

"We value their company knowledge and the pragmatic and practical advice."

"They are extremely professional – we appreciate their great and measured advice, which was always thorough and well thought through. They are quick to respond. "

"They are skilled, prompt and professional."

"We have been impressed by the Wiggin team's proactive and engaged approach to managing our large portfolio of matters. We can trust Wiggin with deadline management, and rely on their unfailing responsiveness to deal with complex and urgent matters. The team is very technically strong and we are always provided with a range of innovative solutions to potential problems. Finally, we greatly appreciate Wiggin's strongly embedded relationships with international firms which means we can use Wiggin as a one-stop-shop for pan-EU and US matters."

"We particularly appreciate Wiggin's deep knowledge and experience of the betting and gaming industry. "

"We value their thorough and out-of-the-box thinking. They take time to really understand our (complex) products and processes and provided a comprehensive strategy to improve protection, increase value and fortify defensive barriers. They delivered true value-add to our business."

"Wiggin consistently provides a high standard of service. They are clear, to the point, helpful and very patient. They get to know their clients and tailor their advice well. "

"Wiggin has provided excellent service. The team has video game industry experts, when needed, and are generally competent lawyers all around."

"Wiggin is very easy to work with and strategic."

"Wiggin provides a consistently high standard of advice and work; they are experienced litigators and will go the extra mile for their clients. You always feel like you are in good hands."

"I appreciated Wiggin's responsiveness and their global approach to each matter, allowing the client to take the route which they consider most appropriate."

"They are a collegiate, client-focused team with extensive litigation experience and a commercial outlook."

"They are a thoroughly dependable and sensible firm. Rachel Alexander provides an unrivalled service."

"They are excellent lawyers who know their legal stuff and combine that with sensible and practical advice to help clients solve problems."

"The IP team is led by Sara Ashby who is a highly experienced and superb litigator. She has an excellent team of partners supporting her, including Michael Browne, Joanne Gibbs and John Colbourn, all of whom I have worked with in the last 12 months. Between them they can handle the full spectrum of IP disputes. I would also single out up-and-coming associates Georgina Hart and Sinclaire Schafer for special mention."

"They are very pragmatic and hands-on and have outstanding knowledge."

"We value their professionality, efficiency, high work ethic and ease of communications."

"We appreciate the high quality of work product, responsiveness, timeliness and strategic thinking."

"We appreciate their knowledge and efficiency, and they are easy to deal with."

"We appreciate their valuable advice and knowledge on our client's rights. They are always very responsive and provide thorough evaluations and recommendations, showing the client various options to approach a matter, depending on each client's preference."

"They are very responsive and easy to communicate with in addition to being technically excellent."

2022

"Very professional and responsive. We won the trial."

"Wiggin are uniquely experienced in the betting and gaming industry and so are able to understand the business from a commercial perspective, not purely a legal one."

Copyright & related rights

The firm retained Managing IP's Firm of the Year award for copyright work in the UK. Copyright star Rachel Alexander was featured in the Managing IP’s Top 250 Women in IP (2021) publication. In July 2020, former Barclays’ head of IP and corporate IP star Calum Smyth joined as a partner. Rising Star John Colbourn was promoted to partner in April 2020. Flora Greenwood, Olivia Brown, Georgina Hart, and Peter Dawson are among the junior practitioners to watch.

In November 2020, the firm welcomed digital entertainment lawyer Jas Purewal as a partner and hired Gordon Moir and Michaela Lodlová to lead its new telecoms practice. The firm, however, witnessed a number of departures. Head of trade marks Gurminder Panesar left the firm in July 2021 while IP transactions star Simon Chalkley and Maeve Lynch left in 2020. Simon Baggs and Anna Carboni are no longer with the firm.