John Baldwin QC commands a towering reputation as a leading silk in intellectual property, and media and entertainment, as well as handling information technology matters. He specialises in every aspect of all three areas, including patents, trade marks, copyrights, confidential information, passing off, design rights, trade libel, EC law, data protection, restrictive covenants and restraint of trade. "His tenacity and determination make him popular among solicitors and clients," according to Chambers Directory 2010, wherein John is further praised for being "intellectually all together and utterly pragmatic," as well as for his ability to "rip a witness to shreds" as and when required.

John is extremely experienced in pharmaceutical sector patent disputes, in addition to having acted in a raft of other patent actions relating to diverse areas. These range from construction and heavy machinery to bio-fuels and packaging. Recent high-value patent cases include Ciba Vision and Novartis v Johnson & Johnson, a patent infringement action concerning extended wear contact lenses. Where copyright cases are concerned, John is "just about as good as it gets", according to Chambers Directory 2010. Indeed, he has acted on high profile cases for Dan Brown, JK Rowling and the Estate of James Joyce. High profile media and entertainment matters have been a permanent feature of John's practice for the last decade or more, Madonna v Associated Newspapers being a recent example. The dispute concerned photographs published in The Mail on Sunday of Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie. CSC Media Group v Video Performance Ltd was another recent highlight, a dispute over royalties payable by TV broadcasters of music videos to the rights owners.

A brief look at John's CV confirms that the emphasis lies overwhelmingly on high profile cases, more or less equally distributed between patents, trade marks and copyright. Technically complex matters relating to a range of sectors, from pharmaceuticals and fibre optics to bio-fuels, constitute the mainstay of his patent practice, while John's thriving media and entertainment practice is frequently interwoven with major trade mark and copyright disputes.

Patents

Recent high-value patent cases include Ciba Vision and Novartis v Johnson & Johnson, a patent infringement action concerning extended wear contact lenses in which the defendants are contending that the patent covers every extended wear lens likely to be useful and is therefore far too broadly written. John also has extensive experience of pharmaceutical sector patent disputes, recent examples being Les Laboratoires Servie v Lupin (crystalline form of a successful pharmaceutical) and Stanelco Fibre Optics v Bioprogress Technology Limited (RF welding technology for making vegetable-based pharmaceutical capsules). Further highlights range from BDI v Biofuels, concerning the operation of a plant for converting vegetable oils into Biodiesel, to Sandisk v Philips, Sisvel and others, a dispute as to whether or not a basket of patents concerning most aspects of digital audio broadcasting were infringed by MP3 players.

Trade Marks and Passing Off

John's cases in this area are no less high profile than those in other areas of his practice. Recent cases include Jacobson v Globe (Gola wing flash logo), a rare case in as far as survey evidence assisted the court, Orange v Easymobile (in which Orange's marketing plans came up against those of Stelios), Mars UK v Wagg Foods (another colour case, this time it was yellow), in which questions of unfair competition as well as conventional passing off were raised, and Bouverie v De Vere Hotels, a contract and trade mark dispute concerning the operation of the Belfry hotel and its famous golf course.

Copyright

John is considered "just about as good as it gets", where copyright cases are concerned, according to Chambers Directory 2010. He recently acted for Dan Brown in Baigent and Leigh v Random House (dispute with the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail over the content of Da Vinci Code), JK Rowling in Allen v Bloomsbury Publishing (concerning Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Gary Brooker in Fisher v Brooker (dispute over the authorship of and entitlement to rights in the music to the iconic Procol Harum hit Whiter Shade of Pale) and represented the Estate of James Joyce in Estate of James Joyce v Macmillan Publishers Limited (concerning a 'reader's' edition of Ulysses). Further highlights include 19 TV Limited v Simon Cowell, the battle between Pop Idol and the X Factor.

Media and Entertainment

High profile media and entertainment matters have been a permanent feature of John's practice for at least the last decade, Madonna v Associated Newspapers being a recent case in point. The dispute concerned photographs published in The Mail on Sunday of Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie. This is in addition to Michael Jackson v Flying Music (where Jackson's estate is trying to control the West End production of Thriller) and Fisher v Brooker (dispute over authorship of the iconic organ music in Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale). Further highlights include CSC Media Group v Video Performance Ltd, a dispute over royalties payable by TV broadcasters of music videos to the rights owners. John also represented Mark McClelland upon the dissolution of original Snow Patrol and Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code litigation, where he was successful both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal. Other cases in which he played a lead role have related to artists such as George Michael, JK Rowling, Simon Cowell, Sylvia Plath and Van Morrison.