OUR APPROACH
Our attorneys have a long track record of working alongside remarkable businesses to help them identify, protect and manage their intellectual property. Whether running a brainstorming session to capture the innovations in a new project or supporting a client through a dispute with a competitor, our goal is to make intellectual property work for our clients. We are particularly proud that the great majority of our instructions come through recommendations from existing clients.
Our services
We cover the full range of intellectual property services related to patents and designs.
Patent attorneys
Our services in relation to patents includes:
- Patent application drafting
- Patent application prosecution
- Patent portfolio management
- Specialist patent formalities team
- Advice on infringement, validity and enforcement in the UK and worldwide
- Litigation support, especially in the USA
- Due diligence for acquisitions and mergers
- Presenting patent positions to potential investors
- Licensing, including standards-related licensing and defences
Design Attorneys
Our services in relation to designs includes:
- Design application preparation
- Design application prosecution
- Design portfolio management
- Specialist design formalities team
- Advice on infringement, validity and enforcement in the UK and worldwide
Trade Mark Attorneys
Our services in relation to trade marks include:
- Trade mark application preparation
- Trade mark prosecution
- Trade mark portfolio management
- Specialist trade mark formalities team
- Trade mark clearance searches
- Trade mark oppositions
- Post-registration matters, including opposition, invalidity actions and cancellation actions
- Formal matters, including assignments, surrender and part-surrender of a trade mark
- Trade mark audits and reviews
Patent protection
We help some of the world's most innovative companies to capture the value in their work. From a big idea that underpins a whole business to an advantageous tweak to the smallest part of a product - patentable worth can reside in any development. The technical backgrounds of our attorneys equip us to brainstorm with your teams and identify the information that we need. We also advise on relative importance of inventions, helping you decide which elements of your work merit protection through a patent application.
Our patent applications are technically rigorous and reflect our clients' commercial objectives. The same principles underpin our approach to patent prosecution - enabling us to achieve valuable patents for our clients via the world's varied patent systems. We manage thousands of patent applications, including large, complex portfolios of patent applications belonging to individual clients.
Whether drafting applications that are right first time or suggesting the best amendment options during prosecution, we pride ourselves on making the process simple and seamless.
Patent strategy
Understanding that every patent portfolio is unique, we make it simple for you to weigh your options and develop a strategy for managing what can be your company's most valuable assets. We factor in your commercial objectives and budgets, and we don't just think short-term. We maintain a close working relationship with our clients over time so that our advice can be adapted as your circumstances change.
We can also support you as you leverage your patent assets - from presenting your patent portfolio, patent strategy and third-party patent position to potential investors during funding rounds to handling patent due diligence during an acquisition.
Patent disputes
Few teams of patent attorneys can match our experience of handling contentious third-party disputes. For clients troubled by third-party patent assertions, we establish compelling non-infringement and invalidity positions to support their commercial position. For those encountering infringers, we are experienced at asserting our clients' patents to achieve their business objectives.
Our team has an exemplary record of opposing and defending European patents through opposition and appeal. We are also particularly well-practised in defending Europe-based companies against US patent litigation, including cases that have progressed to the Federal Circuit.
Recognised for our track record of invalidating third-party patents and defending our clients' own, we use our strong technical knowledge to make sure our arguments are accurate and persuasive and that our strategy is commercially pragmatic.
Designs
Designs can be a cost-effective mechanism for obtaining registered protection for the appearance of a product, but their apparent simplicity masks many pitfalls. Our team is practised at achieving design protection in all the key jurisdictions around the world, each of which has its own requirements. In order to maximise the scope of protection in each jurisdiction, it is vital to ensure that the drawings meet the formal requirements of the countries of interest from the outset. We will work closely with you to achieve this and we have long-standing relationships with expert draftsmen that we can call on when needed.
One of the interesting facets of design work is how often designs turn out to be contentious, and our team has extensive experience of advising on the infringement and enforcement of designs.
Trade Marks
Trade marks are business assets. They should appear on your balance sheet in the same way as cash and should be nurtured and protected just as diligently. You may wish to license, franchise, mortgage or even sell your trade mark at a later date. The absence of a trade mark registration could seriously jeopardise your ability to do so and cut off a source of future revenue. It could also leave you open to costly threats from competitors.
PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS
The registration of a trade mark will, in many cases, also provide you with the ability to prevent the use/registration by potential competitors of the same or a similar mark on the same or similar goods or services. It will also assist you in the fight against counterfeiters. Registering your mark ring-fences your rights in a way that the mere use of the mark cannot.
Failure to register your trade mark can be a costly mistake. It could result in a third party registering the same or a similar mark and enforcing it against you – meaning that you could be forced to stop using your mark and to choose a different brand, with all the financial and reputational impact that entails, as well as facing possible legal action and related costs.
You may only have one trade mark. But assets are relative. If that mark is also your company name or "house mark", the consequences of not registering your trade mark can be dire. So, it is not a question of should I register my trade mark, but can I afford not to?
HOW WE CAN HELP
This is where we can help. Our trade mark team has extensive experience in trade mark matters and advises on the adoption, protection and enforcement of trade marks throughout the world utilising the various trade mark protection systems available. We pride ourselves on guiding our clients through the process and ensuring that commercial drivers are factored into any legal advice we provide.
