United Kingdom (England)

Firm overview

D Young & Co is a leading top-tier European intellectual property firm, dedicated to protecting and enforcing IP rights. We have been applying our world-class expertise to take ideas, products and services further since 1891.

Last updated 17th of April 2018

Firm overview

Maucher Jenkins comprises UK, German and European patent and trade mark attorneys, attorneys at law and IP litigators, with offices in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and China. Its attorneys represent global clients in a range of industries who wish to identify, establish, protect, exploit and enforce their IP rights in the UK, Europe and worldwide.

Our reputation extends internationally, as does our expertise, covering a wide range of industry sectors.

The patent team’s expertise includes preliminary investigations and due diligence on securing a patent; drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications before the UKIPO and European Patent Office; conducting searches to avoid infringement; defending patent infringement claims and pursuing infringement litigation when opposing, reviewing, evaluating and managing patent portfolios; monitoring competitors’ portfolios; and advising on how to obtain patent protection worldwide.

The trade mark team advises on the registrability of new brand names and logos, conducts searches to locate any potentially conflicting third-party rights, files and prosecutes trade mark applications and acts on behalf of clients in relation to any disputes.

Our attorneys can also look at design protection for new and innovative product shapes with an eye to identifying copyright and registrable or unregistered design matter that can strengthen an overall portfolio of rights. Our IP litigators handle disputes in the English Courts as well as managing multi-jurisdictional cases in Europe at the General Court and Court of Justice. The attorneys in Munich and Freiburg handle disputes in different regional courts across Germany and up to the level of the Bundesgerichtshof.


Network Memberships: Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA), International Trademark Association (INTA), International Association for the Protection of IP (AIPPI), Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), American IP Law Association (AIPLA), BioIndustry Association (BIA), British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), MARQUES, European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA), International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI)

Maucher Jenkins is the joint trading name of RGC Jenkins & Co in the UK (regulated by IPReg) and Maucher Jenkins Patentanwälte & Rechtsanwälte in Germany.

Last Updated 12th of April 2018

Firm overview

Barker Brettell is one of the UK's largest IP firms with 25 partners, 32 further qualified and trainee attorneys, and a team of 80 professional support staff. We specialise in IP portfolio strategy and management, clearance, prosecution, oppositions, cancellations, and enforcement. Our team of attorneys comprise specialists in all areas of intellectual property including patents, trade marks, copyright, designs and related matters, such as domain names, company names and customs issues.

Ranked in the UK as a top two European patent filer, Barker Brettell submits around 600 European patent applications every year across a wide range of sectors. The experienced patent and design rights teams comprise attorneys whose individual expertise include physics and materials; mechanical engineering; life sciences and chemistry, and software and electronics.

Barker Brettell’s 15-strong trade mark team is ranked by CITMA as one of the country’s largest filers of both UK and European Trade Marks and, according to European Trademark Filing Statistics for UK Law Firms, was a top two UK filer in 2018. The team is experienced at handling substantial global portfolios for clients, many of whom have more than 1000 trade marks worldwide. Robust systems and a hand-picked global network enables the firm to add value throughout the IP management process to deliver multiple benefits for clients. Legal expertise, industry and sector knowledge along with a commercial but friendly approach, ensure businesses and individuals are able to develop comprehensive IP global filing strategies to meet their business objectives and protect their assets.

The firm aims to provide clients with proactive, pragmatic and commercially-focused IP advice, delivered in a cost-efficient manner.


Network Memberships
INTA, ECTA, CIPA, CITMA

Last updated 30th January 2019

Firm overview

Powell Gilbert LLP is one of the most innovative and most highly regarded IP teams in Europe, with unrivalled patent litigation experience and a blue-chip brands practice.

The firm includes some of Europe’s leading patent litigators, with 14 partners, 20 associates and a highly experienced litigation support team. Almost all lawyers have technical backgrounds, including many with PhDs or master’s degrees in relevant scientific disciplines. The firm advises clients across all technologies and IP rights, including advising on IP licence disputes and providing FTO assessments.

In UK litigation, the team routinely represents clients before the patents courts at all levels, including on appeal before the UK Supreme Court, where it has appeared in a number of precedent-setting cases in recent years.

With a wealth of experience gained from acting in multinational patent disputes, addressing issues of validity and infringement, Powell Gilbert is frequently involved in devising European patent litigation strategies, acting as co-ordinating counsel and working alongside local teams to put those strategies into effect and ensure consistency of approach. The Unified Patents Court (UPC) offers an additional forum for patent enforcement and Powell Gilbert is assisting clients in the preparation of offensive and defensive strategies. This includes the preparation of pleadings and evidence, as well as assembling the most effective teams of local counsel for the technologies in issue and the UPC division of choice.

Practice areas

The firm advises across the full spectrum of IP rights, including patents, brands, design rights, copyright, passing off, confidential information and plant variety rights. Its experience in patent litigation ranges across all technical fields, from acting in the earliest biotechnology patent cases to involvement in the smartphone wars and leading cases on FRAND licensing disputes. It has appeared in many of the most technically complex and legally challenging cases in the UK patent courts and has also represented clients in referrals to the European Court of Justice and the European Free Trade Area Court on supplementary protection certificates (SPC). The firm also represents clients in smaller claims before the UK IP Enterprise Court and represents clients in European Patent Office opposition proceedings and other registry proceedings, including the UK Intellectual Property Office.

Although focused on litigation, the firm is experienced in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.

International experience

A distinguishing feature of Powell Gilbert is the expertise of its lawyers in successfully guiding clients through multinational litigation, and devising and coordinating pan-European patent strategies.

The firm has played a central role in cases before many overseas courts, including in continental Europe, Scandinavia, the United States (district court and International Trade Commission proceedings), Australia, China, Korea and Japan.

Powell Gilbert’s lawyers are familiar with the opportunities, and the potential threats for the unwary, that litigation in the UPC offers.

Members of the firm were actively involved in commenting on the rules of procedure of the UPC and have contributed to training materials for UPC judges, including participation in mock trials.

Key cases:

• Warner Lambert v Actavis (pregabalin)
• Regeneron v Kymab (antibodies/transgenic mice)
• Unwired Planet v Huawei (smartphones/FRAND)
• Eli Lilly v Human Genome Sciences (neutrokine alpha/SPC)
• Ocado v AutoStore (robotics)
• Philip Morris v Nicoventures (heat-not-burn tobacco)
• lllumina v MGI (gene sequencing technology)
• Edwards Lifesciences v Meril / Abbott v Edwards (heart valves)
• Advanced Bionics v MED-EL (cochlear implants)
• Royalty Pharma v Boehringer Ingelheim (licence dispute – German law)
• Vestel v HEVC Advance (HEVC codec/FRAND)
• IPCom v Xiaomi (telecoms/FRAND)
• Biogen v AbbVie (adalimumab)
• GSK v Fibrogen (anti-anaemia drugs)
• Merck v GSK (pneumococcal vaccines)
• Chugai v UCB (patent licence dispute)
• Illumina v Ariosa (non-invasive pre-natal testing)
• Boston v Edwards (heart valves)
• CommScope v SOLiD (digital distributed antenna systems)
• Promptu v Sky and Comcast (voice recognition systems)
• Coloplast v Salts (ostomy devices)
• Garmin v Philips; PulseOn Oy v Garmin (wearable tech)
• Rovi v Virgin Media (cable television)
• Apple v Nokia; HTC v Apple (smartphones)
• LG v Sony (Blu-ray disc technology)
• Nuance v Vlingo (voice recognition)
• Mölnlycke v BSN medical (wound dressings)
• Philips v Alba (MPEG-2 digital compression)
• Nichia v SSCL (LEDs)
• Monsanto v Cargill (genetically modified soy beans)
• Aerotel v Wavecrest (computer programs)
• Dr Reddy’s v Eli Lilly (olanzapine)
• Yeda v ImClone (Erbitux – entitlement; SPCs)