Patent Law

Members of chambers can offer unrivalled experience in the conduct of all types of patent litigation in the UK and abroad. We cover all aspects of the law relating to patents and supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) – from Patent Office oppositions and entitlement disputes, to revocation and infringement actions in the Patents Court and the Patents County Court and all levels of appeal up to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court as well as references to the European Court of Justice.  One of our senior junior barristers, Charlotte May, also acts as Treasury Counsel in IP matters. We are also used to working as part of a team of lawyers from different jurisdictions in the conduct of multi-national patent litigation. Several members have extensive experience in the European Patent Office, particularly at the Boards of Appeal level.

We are able to offer technical and scientific expertise over a wide range of disciplines including cutting edge science and technology. We are pre-eminent amongst IP counsel in biotechnology with 25 years of conducting litigation in this area. Members of 8 New Square have appeared in nearly all of the significant biotechnology cases including the landmark House of Lords cases Biogen v Medeva and Kirin-Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel.

Our counsel also have wide practical experience in advising and conducting patent litigation in the following fields: pharmaceuticals, oil and gas technology, electronics and telecommunications, general engineering and consumer products.  Significant cases from these areas include:

• Generics (UK) v Lundbeck (House of Lords) – validity of patent for antidepressant drug
• Kelly and Chiu v GE Healthcare (Patents Court) –employee-invention compensation for patent relating to radioactive imaging agent
• Generics (UK) v Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co (Court of Appeal) – validity of patent and SPC for enantiomeric drug
• Conor Medsystems v Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (House of Lords) – validity of drug-eluting stent patent
• Vector Corp v Glatt (Court of Appeal) – validity of patent relating to fluidised bed technology
• Yeda Research and Development Co v Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer (House of Lords) – patent entitlement dispute
• Halliburton v Smith (Court of Appeal) – validity of patent relating to drill bits used in oil exploration
• Folding Attic Stairs v Loft Stairs Co (Patents Court) – validity of patent for folding attic stairs
• Symbian Ltd’s Patent (Court of Appeal) – patentability of computer programs
• Research in Motion v Visto Corp (Patents Court) – infringement proceedings relating to BlackBerry® techonology
• Nokia v Interdigital Technology Corporation – patent relating to mobile phone technology 
• Dyson v Hoover (Court of Appeal) –  patent for cyclonic vacuum cleaners
• Haberman v Jackel (Patents Court) – patent for babies drinking cups