Boult Wade Tennant

Boult Wade Tennant is one of Europe’s leading IP firms, with established offices based in the UK, Germany and Spain. Since 1894 clients have trusted us with their most important asset, their intellectual property.

Choosing a new adviser is a big decision. Whatever the IP challenge, we have the team to help. We have over 90 patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys and lawyers, spread across three European countries. We can therefore provide you with advice at both a European level and nationally in the UK, Germany and Spain. Whichever route you use to access our services: whether working through our UK, German or Spanish team, you will benefit from the same exceptional service levels underpinned by unique local knowledge and professional expertise. The firm is known internationally for its quality of communication, proactivity, creativity and high standards in all matters. The attorneys have broad-based technical knowledge and well-developed commercial acumen, and are creative in their approach.

The firm has four patent groups which are divided by technologies: biotechnology and life sciences; chemical and materials; engineering and designs; and hi-tech and electrical. The fifth group is the trade mark and domain names group. The firm also has a range of professional in-house support functions, including a sizeable formalities and renewals department and a search department.

Our patents and designs groups have significant experience working with large corporate organizations, from banks to pharmaceutical companies. We also act for many smaller and medium sized business, Government bodies, academic institutions, research laboratories and individual inventors. The firm has handled hundreds of European Patent Office oppositions and appeals with an enviable success rate. All technical groups have extensive experience in drafting original patent specifications, IP portfolio management, handling oppositions, advising on infringement and enforcement matters. Boult Wade Tennant also offers a range of additional services, including providing freedom to operate opinions, carrying out IP due diligence exercises, recording assignments and licences, managing the transfer of large incoming portfolios, patent searching services, competitor watching services, in-house renewals and translation services.

Our Trade Mark and Domain Name team offer maximum efficiency and an effortless service to clients. They can act as a central point for all your brand protection, IP matters and data management. This includes providing strategic advice, assistance with planning and budgeting, brand evaluation, trade mark clearance and filing, representation relating to contentious trade mark and design matters, competitor analysis, IP intelligence, advice concerning licensing, IP audits and other services such as workflow management. We advise on the full spectrum of brand related IP matters, this includes the contentious and non-contentious aspects of trade marks and brands, domain names, copyright, social media, designs and trade secrets. We provide advice on the acquisition of trade mark related IP rights, licensing agreements, and distribution agreements, as well as copyright, unfair competition law and we offer litigation support in the German Courts and at EU level, The General Court and The European Court of Justice.

Key IP Areas

Copyright & related rights, Designs, Intellectual property (prosecution), IP transactions, Life sciences IP, Patent, Patent prosecution, Trade mark, Trade mark prosecution

Key Sector Expertise

Aerospace, Agriculture, Artificial intelligence, Arts, Automotive, Biotechnology, Chemical, Computer technology & services, Construction & materials, Defence, E-commerce, Electrical, Electronics, Fashion & luxury goods, Film, Financial services, FMCG, Food & beverage, Gaming, Hospitality & leisure, ICT & software, Industrials, Internet, Life sciences, Manufacturing, Mechanical, Media, Medical device, Mining, Music, Nanotechnology, Oil & gas, Optics & photonics, Pharmaceutical, Renewable energy, Retail, Robotics, Semiconductors, Sports, Technology hardware, Telecommunication, Transport, Universities & research

At Boult we believe in being inclusive and creating a working environment where everyone can comfortably be themselves. Attracting, developing and retaining a diverse team and creating an inclusive culture where people feel valued and included is extremely important to us and something we work hard to achieve. Through our collective action we have achieved tangible change and made a positive impact on our culture, and we will continue to do so.

In 2021 we worked with Focal Point, an organisation dedicated to helping workplaces become more respectful and inclusive environments, to create a staff survey to understand what our people thought about our culture, and equality, diversity and inclusion at Boult. We wanted to take stock of where we were and where we wanted to go. We were able to use these findings to help us develop a fresh approach to and perspective on equality, diversity and inclusion.

During 2022 we created an EDI strategy. We revised policies and recruitment procedures, held leadership courses and changed our flexible working arrangements to ensure our approach encouraged diversity and valued differences. Since then, we have run educational sessions to raise staff awareness of unconscious bias and neurodiversity, to understand and engage with those issues. We have taken proactive steps to address EDI concerns in our industry and beyond, joining supportive networks and organisations such as WorkLife Central, IP Inclusive, and the General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion (GCD&I). We have also signed charters and made commitments to organisations whose values we share such as the IP Inclusive Charter, the IP Inclusive Senior Leadership Pledge.