Intellectual property is at the forefront of technology, which means that IP disputes are often at the cutting-edge of legal developments. Our litigators are experienced in dealing with contemporary and complex legal issues through the courts, intellectual property offices and arbitration.
We handle disputes in all forms of intellectual property, whether through alternative dispute resolution, litigation in the national courts or the opposition of patents and trademarks in the relevant community or national offices. We cover a diverse range of issues, from breach of confidence, ownership, licensing and warranty disputes to copyright, patent and trademark infringement, opposition proceedings and revocation and invalidity actions.
In particular Patent Infringement Proceedings are complex and require professional advice.
IP is never simply a domestic concern. Every IP strategy needs to take account of the major global markets. Our international network means you have access to high-quality legal advice wherever your rights are at stake. Our European teams have particular expertise in this area, with many years' experience of handling disputes, whether national or in parallel across a number of jurisdictions.
Experience
Unwired Planet
Acted in Unwired Planet v Huawei, the leading case worldwide on the infringement of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) for telecoms standards, and FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing.
PopSockets
Represented PopSockets in UK patent infringement litigation relating to their hugely popular mobile phone accessory product. This case also involved issues of joint tortfeasors and indirect infringement.
Pan Optis
Acted for patent owner in a jurisdictional challenge brought by Apple seeking to exclude a series of patent infringement cases against Apple from being heard in the UK.
Frank Industries/LNDR
Successfully acted in Frank Industries v Nike, a UK trade mark infringement and passing off case. We obtained an EU-wide interim injunction, subsequently upheld by the UK Court of Appeal. We then won an expedited trial before IPEC within 5 months of commencing litigation.
Harley-Davidson
Acted for Harley-Davidson, one of the world's leading motorcycle companies, in trade mark infringement proceedings relating to unauthorised merchandise.
Publishing entity
Acted for this publishing entity seeking advice on complex claims for copyright infringement, particularly exhaustion of the distribution right, in relation to the sales of books online.
Marks & Spencer
Acted in High Court trade mark infringement proceedings brought by Interflora arising out of Marks & Spencer's purchase of the Interflora Google Adword, and the subsequent referral to the European Court of Justice.
Mulberry
Acted in brand protection matters, enforcing trade marks and design rights.
Sony Music Entertainment
Advised Sony in this leading music industry claim for damages against the music publishing companies Acqua Azzurra, Aquilone and the heirs of the well-known Italian artist Lucio Battisti, deriving from conduct that prevented Sony from exploiting recordings, including through online digital channels.
Sony Music Entertainment
Advised Sony in a dispute related to the violation, by the very popular Italian artist Achille Lauro, of the exclusive contractual clause agreed with Sony due to the appointment of the artist as Creative Director of the label "Elektra Records" owned by Warner Music Italia.
Sony ATV / EMI Music Publishing Group
Represented EMI Music Publishing Italy in a dispute arising from its alleged failure to perform the publishing contract entered into with composer Ennio Morricone (Winner of the 2016 Oscar - Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score of “The Hateful Eight”) of the soundtrack of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.
Sony ATV / EMI Music Publishing Group
Represented SM Publishing Italy (fully owned by the Sony/ATV group) in strategic litigation before the Italian Supreme Court against RAI (Italy’s national public broadcaster) and Fremantle Media, which illicitly synchronized a series of songs owned by the client within a famous Italian soap opera.
CITTI vs. CITI
Acting for the German gross market group CITTI against the international bank CITI in trademark disputes.
Stone Brewing
Acting for US craft beer company Stone Brewing in an international trademark dispute against Molson Coors about the beer brands STONE and STONES with actions and counteractions in Germany, UK and other EU countries.
Major Sports Rights Agency
Acting for a major sports rights agency before the Regional Court of Hamburg against a well-known cruise line company who used satellite coverage to make available worldwide sports events to their passengers on the high seas without taking proper copyright and broadcasting rights license from the client who held the exclusive rights for international waters.
Equitable remuneration in the games industry
Defending a well-known online games company against a games author suing for equitable remuneration in a seven digit amount at the Regional Court of Berlin on the basis of the respective games’ alleged success.
Sony Music Entertainment
Assisted Sony, Sony Music USA and FIFA (The Fédération Internationale de Football Association) in litigation against an Italian company owner of famous brands regarding alleged trade mark infringement in the FIFA World Cup 2018 official video produced by Sony USA.
Sony Music Entertainment
Advised in proceedings started by a famous Italian publishing company (Feltrinelli), concerning the alleged counterfeiting of its trademarks resulting from the use of a logo formed of two capital letter “F”s on the cover of the album 'Concrete and Gold' by the international group “Foo Fighters”.
Insights: IP disputes
Reviewing our UK business law predictions for 2023: how are we doing at the half-way point?
UPC's former London Central Division competences to be reallocated between Paris, Munich and Milan
Changes to legal professional privilege and trade secret protection in Poland
Supermarket clash underscores need for clarity from UK Supreme Court on trade mark bad faith
Bad faith claim succeeded in ongoing dispute but trade mark and copyright infringement and passing off still found
Use of trade mark for food supplements does not amount to genuine use for pharma products
European Commission takes a step forward in the fight against online piracy of sports and other live events
Generative AI: is its output protectable by intellectual property rights?
New judicial code of conduct addresses partiality concerns over UPC part-time technical judges
French, German and Italian UPC local divisions to now offer English as alternative language of proceedings
UPC publishes list of the acceptable languages before the local and regional divisions
The language of proceedings has caused controversy but the system adopted provides some flexibility for claimants
UPC: former London Central Division competences provisionally split between Paris and Munich
Case management system problems for UPC underscore need to file opt-outs immediately
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