IP disputes

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Acted for Harley-Davidson, one of the world's leading motorcycle companies, in trade mark infringement proceedings relating to unauthorised merchandise.

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.

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.

Acted in brand protection matters, enforcing trade marks and design rights.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

Acting for the German gross market group CITTI against the international bank CITI in trademark disputes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.