INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY • SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT • COMPETITION
OTHER AREAS OF PRACTICE
Commercial cases with technical and intellectual property elements
Members of chambers are regularly involved in disputes concerning licensing of intellectual property rights and claims arising under contracts. Recent examples include CAT v. Abbott, Celltech v. MedImmune and numerous computer contract disputes.
Other recent contractual cases have involved the music and entertainment business, including Pop Idol and Apple.
Members of chambers also regularly appear and advise on cases concerning negligence liability of professional advisors including patent and trade mark agents.
Judicial review and regulatory matters
8 New Square has extensive experience of judicial review proceedings relating to intellectual property rights and other disputes with a technical content.
Cases include, of course, reviews of decisions to grant or refuse licences in respect of pharmaceutical and agrochemical products - R v. MCA ex p. Smith & Nephew, R v. MCA ex p. Rhône Poulenc Rorer, R v. MAFF ex p. Monsanto.
But cases include challenges to other kinds of decisions as well, such as those relating to approval to grow GM crops - R v. Secretary of State for the Environment & MAFF ex p. Watson - and concerning prohibition of fisheries imports - Seahawk v. Southampton Port Health Authority.
Plant breeders' rights
Cases on plant breeders' rights are rare, but when they do occur chambers tends to be involved: see Germinal v. Fell (grass seed) and, in a related field, Munoz v. Frumar (grape varieties).
Hallmarking
Chambers is able to offer expertise on the very specialised area of law on the hallmarking of articles of precious metal. The section of Halsbury's Laws of England on hallmarking was written within chambers, and advice has been given both on the Vienna Convention (otherwise known as the International Hallmarking Convention) and on EC law relating to the recognition of hallmarks applied by other EC member states following the Houtwipper case in the ECJ.