United Kingdom (England) - Jurisdiction Review

Abion

Firm overview

Abion: Your Global IP Guardian

Abion is a leading force in the intellectual property (IP) industry. We are an innovative, platform-based provider leveraging 25 years of experience in the digital landscape with a strong foundation as an ICANN-accredited registrar and ISO27001 certified supplier.

Abion's edge lies in combining top-ranked industry experts with advanced technology. This fusion delivers an unparalleled service across the entire intellectual property lifecycle, including:

• Trademark and design prosecution
• IP and legal consultancy
• Enforcement and litigation
• Online brand protection and enforcement
• Strategic domain name consulting
• Web security

Streamlined efficiency at your fingertips

Our cloud-based brand management platform, Abion Core, combines cutting-edge technology with intuitive user experience to streamline managing and protecting your brand all in the one place. It’s a centralised solution that puts you in control of your brand, no middlemen and no service interruptions.

Globally positioned and locally empowered

Our 17 offices covering, EU/non-EU European territories, UAE, Asia and Australasia, combined with a global network of partners, enable us to provide expert advice and comprehensive IP solutions to service virtually any jurisdiction.

Powell Gilbert

Firm overview

Powell Gilbert is one of the most highly regarded European IP law firms, with unrivalled patent litigation experience and a blue-chip brands practice. In addition to extensive patent litigation experience before the national courts, the firm has rapidly established itself as one of the leading firms for patent litigation before the Unified Patent Court. PG also has unrivalled experience in advising clients on European IP strategy and coordinating European IP litigation. PG is frequently involved in devising European patent litigation strategies, acting as co-ordinating counsel and working alongside local teams to put those strategies into effect and ensure consistency of approach. The firm has played a central role in cases before many courts, including in the UK, continental Europe and Scandinavia, the UPC, the United States (district court and ITC proceedings), Australia, China, Korea and Japan.

In UK litigation, the team routinely represents clients before the patent courts at all levels, including on appeal before the UK Supreme Court, where it has appeared in a number of precedent-setting cases in recent years.

In UPC litigation, PG’s success since the Court opened its doors in June 2023 was recognised when PG won JUVE Patent’s inaugural “UPC Firm of the Year” Award and MIP’s (UK) UPC Firm of the Year Award. PG is uniquely well placed to advise on the opportunities and risks which result from the addition of the UPC to the existing European patent litigation landscape. The PG team has been involved in UPC cases before a variety of Local, Regional, and Central Divisions and also the Court of Appeal – including appearing as advocates.

The firm includes some of Europe’s leading patent litigators. Almost all lawyers have technical backgrounds, including many with PhDs or master’s degrees in relevant scientific disciplines. The firm also advises on complex technology contract disputes and provides IP portfolio assessments and FTO analyses.

The firm advises across the full spectrum of IP rights. Its experience in patent litigation ranges across all technical fields, from acting in the earliest biotechnology patent cases to involvement in the smartphone wars and leading cases on FRAND licensing disputes. It has appeared in many of Europe’s most technically and legally complex cases, including representing clients in referrals to the CJEU and the EFTA Court on SPCs. The firm also represents clients in EPO oppositions and other registry proceedings, including before the UK IPO.

Although focused on litigation, the firm is experienced in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.

Bear & Wolf IP

Firm overview

Our origins are in trade mark and design law. Always at the heart of what we do, we are recognised experts in that land, creating award-winning work for some of the most famous brands in the world.
But we recognise that brands need more than law to grow. So we evolved to meet that need.

We blend trade mark law, design and e‑tail data analysis with our seasoned brand positioning and strategy expertise – whatever your brand needs to develop and evolve.

Agile and incisive by nature, we thrive on the challenge of new horizons.

Come and meet us.

Walker Morris

Firm overview

The award winning Intellectual Property Department at Walker Morris is a full-service IP practice. The team provides complete support across the full scope of intellectual property rights. We also advise on a broad range of issues ranging from complex disputes, global IP portfolio management to IP transactions.

The team has in depth experience in sectors such as food and drink, retail and leisure, manufacturing, sport, health and beauty, life sciences and financial services. We use this experience to support our clients with their individual needs. We adopt a collaborative approach to the way we work with our clients and get to understand our client's, their business and sector to ensure we provide the best possible advice. We put our clients at the centre of what we do and seek to build partnerships with our clients, and we endeavour to build strong and long-lasting relationships. We are proud of the many enduing relationships we have.

We apply our specialist knowledge to support clients across a wide range of IP issues and scenarios. In relation to our contentious work, we act for clients in IP disputes concerning, patents, trade marks, passing off, copyright, designs, domain disputes and confidential information. Regarding our non-contentious work, we regularly support clients with the capture and commercialisation of intellectual property including licensing, IP acquisitions and research and development agreements. We also provide day to day advice to businesses advising them on best practice for the protection and treatment of the IP in their business. Additionally, we support an array of clients with the management of their intellectual property portfolios. We provide strategic advice and assist with planning and budgeting for their portfolios. We also provide brand evaluation, trade mark clearance and filing, representation relating to contentious trade mark and design matters.

IP STARS Reviews

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird is one of the leading law firms in the UK for contentious and non-contentious IP work. It is often involved in high-profile IP disputes in the UK. The firm is also recommended in European jurisdictions such as France and Germany, making it one of the most reliable firms for pan-European IP litigation. It also has a representative US office in San Francisco, California. The firm has experienced lawyers that can handle patent litigation in different fields, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and telecommunications.

Notable patent litigators: Patrick Kelleher, Jane Mutimear, Richard Vary, Mark Hilton, Morag Macdonald, and Katharine Stephens.

Notable trademark practitioners: Emma Green, Allan Poulter, Christine Danos, Peter Brownlow, and Mark Holah.

Notable IP transaction lawyers: Sally Shorthose and Tom Snaith.

Notable copyright and design practitioners: Ewan Grist, Christine Danos, Rebecca O’Kelly-Gillard, and Phil Sherrell.

The soft IP team is supported by copyright scholar Eleonora Rosati. Ewan Grist is an all-rounder in IP litigation.

D Young & Co

D Young & Co is one of the leading UK firms for IP filing, office proceedings and portfolio management work. In patents, the firm is particularly respected by rivals for its technical expertise in life sciences, electronics, and engineering. As one of the pioneers of a one-stop shop for IP services, the firm has maintained its legal practice with a team of lawyers. The firm also has a team in Munich, Germany.

Notable patent practitioners: Anthony Albutt, David Alcock, Jonathan Jackson, Jonathan DeVile, Simon O'Brien, Garreth Duncan, Robbie Berryman, Rachel Bateman, and Alan Boyd. Albutt is among its patent attorneys with litigation qualification.

Notable trade mark practitioners: Gemma Kirkland, Jackie Johnson and Richard Burton.

Notable lawyers: Tamsin Holman, Anna Reid and Matthew Dick.

EIP

IP firm EIP is recommended for patent protection and litigation work. The firm’s patent litigation activities in the UK have cemented its reputation as one of the best firms for electronics patent work. In addition to its hi-tech patent expertise, the firm has experienced European patent attorneys for engineering, biotechnology, and chemistry work. It has expanded its footprint in recent years, with offices in the United States, Sweden and Germany.

Notable patent litigators: Gary Moss, Andrew Sharples, Kathleen Fox Murphy, Tom Brazier, and Robert Lundie Smith.

Notable patent attorneys: Laurence Brown, Colin Lobban, Jerome Spaargaren, Matt Lawman, Monika Rai, Richard Gordon-Brown, Darren Smyth, and Gareth Probert.

Patent litigation supremo Moss now serves as the firm's chairman, while Sharples and Smith co-lead the UK litigation practice. Sharples is dually qualified as a patent attorney and solicitor.

Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher is best known for its expertise in soft IP. The firm is recommended for trade mark protection, dispute resolution, and advisory services related to copyright and IP transactions. The firm also has experienced lawyers in other departments, including media and technology, who can provide guidance on copyright and related rights issues.

Notable trade mark practitioners: Hastings Guise, Amy Reynolds and Harriet Seymour. Guise is dually qualified as a solicitor and a trade mark attorney.

Notable soft IP litigators: Nick Rose, James Seadon, and Tommy McKenna.

Notable IP transaction practitioners: Gordon Drakes, David Bond, Sonal Patel Oliva and Vicky Reinhardt.

Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner

US-headquartered IP firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garret & Dunner has a European patent practice, with teams in the UK and Germany. The partners in the London office are supported by a team of associates and technical specialists. The team has expertise in fields such as ICT, electronics and pharmaceuticals.

Notable patent practitioners: Maeve O’Flynn, Darren M Jiron, Luigi Distefano, Yelena Morozova, and Amanda K Murphy.

Notable trade mark practitioner: Clare A Cornell.

J A Kemp

J A Kemp is a long-established patent and trade mark attorney firm that is highly recommended for IP protection and portfolio management. The firm has an excellent reputation in chemistry, life sciences and engineering. Its European patent attorneys are respected for their drafting and the results they achieve for clients in office proceedings. The firm has a dispute resolution practice staffed with lawyers and several patent attorneys with court litigation qualification.

Notable patent practitioners: Pamela Tuxworth, Dominic Forsythe, Amanda Simons, Ravi Srinivasan, Mark Roberts, John Leeming, Graham Lewis, Toby Hopkin, and Martin Jackson.
Notable lawyers: Aaron Newell and James Fish.
Notable trademark practitioners: Tom Albertini, Ben Mooneapillay and Charlotte Stirling.

Albertini leads its designs practice, while Fish is in charge of the the trademark department. The senior practitioners are supported by a team of associates, trainees, and support staff.

Mishcon de Reya

Mishcon de Reya is recommended for IP disputes and trade mark protection work. It also has a team that deals with IP licensing work.

Notable IP litigators: David Rose, Gareth Dickson, Angela Fox and Campbell Forsyth.
Notable trade mark practitioners: Jeremy Herzog, Louisa Dixon and Sally Britton.
Notable IP transaction lawyer: Lewis Cohen and Patrick Farrant.

The partners are supported by a team of junior practitioners, including Rising Stars Dominic Walsh and Richard Parsons. Rose is an all-round IP litigator. Forsyth, who also serves as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Chancery Division, specialises in patent litigation. Fox is a thought leader on litigation in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.

Murgitroyd

International IP firm Murgitroyd is recommended for IP protection and portfolio management work in the UK. Read our review about the firm here.

Pinsent Masons

Pinsent Masons is recommended for contentious and non-contentious IP work in the UK. It is best known in the market for its IP work, especially patent and SPC litigation, in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector.

Amsterdam-based patent litigator Judith Krens and Birmingham-based soft IP lawyer Tom Nener lead the firm's global IP practice, while Charlotte Weekes is in charge of the life sciences practice.

Notable patent practitioners: Charlotte Weekes, James Marshall, Christopher Sharp, Gareth Morgan, Kristina Cornish, Tracey Roberts, and Catherine Drew.
Notable soft IP practitioners: Tom Nener and Florian Traub.
Notable IP transactional lawyers: Cerys Wyn Davies, Jo Alderson, Allistair Booth, and Gina Bicknell.