In addition to the comprehensive patent services that we offer, our attorneys are also experienced in resolving patent disputes via litigation. Our litigation team has extensive experience and many years of dealing with a broad range of patent cases before the UK – in the High Court, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) and the Court of Appeal – sometimes whilst managing parallel proceedings. Our patent litigation work covers a breadth of industries. Most recently we have conducted litigation in the UK courts in matters encompassing chemical and IT technologies.
Regardless of the task, whether it be achieving a commercial result for our clients on the negotiating table or succeeding at trial, our team has the commercial acumen and skills to ensure that our clients’ interests are secured. We have particular experience of advising in patent disputes with multi-jurisdictional issues, especially throughout Europe, China, and the US. We are accustomed to assessing the strategic advantages of where to commence proceedings so as to maximise the chances of a successful outcome for our clients.
We work with clients, balancing their commercial and strategic objectives, business requirements and cost implications, to establish a disputes strategy. Whilst this may involve formal proceedings, we are committed to using alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including informal negotiations and recognised ADR forms such as mediation and arbitration, wherever it seems most likely to lead to a better overall result for our clients. We have an excellent track record of settling high-value patent disputes through this method.
Importantly, given the commercial and financial implications of patent litigation, we are committed to ensuring that any potential impacts of litigation are assessed within the overall litigation strategy. We will always use appropriate, cost-effective and transparent strategies to meet your needs.
Our strong and trusted client relationships ensure that our patent attorneys have an in-depth understanding of their businesses and technologies. This unparalleled understanding and technical expertise, combined with specialist legal skills, means that we provide a dispute resolution team with the experience and resources to handle all elements of litigation.
The strength of our litigation team is demonstrated by our successful track record, and we pride ourselves in achieving practical and commercially driven results for our clients.
Our litigation team successfully defended established client British Gas Trading Ltd in a £30 million patent infringement claim brought by claimants Meter-Tech and VanClare SE LLC (the claimants) vis-à-vis British Gas’s past, current and proposed smart meter systems. The claimants argued that their patent was inventive, however, our team constructed a robust case and successfully revoked the patent on which the claim was based.
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Our litigation team defended GEODynamics, an oil industry-leading manufacturer of directional shaped charges. The case was brought in the High Court by QinetiQ, a UK-based defence technology company. It concerned a breach of contract claim relating to a patent licence, which involved the issue of patent infringement. GEODynamics were exclusive licensees of a patent portfolio owned by QinetiQ. The case involved complex technical and legal elements, and our litigation team presented a strong defence, drawing on the technical expertise of our patent attorney litigators as well as our legal knowledge and experience.
Our team defended our client in relation to an interim injunction application made by Sony in the High Court. The case concerned accusations by Sony that our client had copied their design for PlayStation controllers. Through hard-fought negotiations, our team settled the dispute and achieved a positive result for our client, including avoiding an interim injunction.
We were involved in the agreement of a confidential settlement between Eckoh plc and Semafone following a dispute over alleged infringement and invalidity of Semafone’s UK Patent (No. GB 2,473,376).
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Our litigation team represented Memco (now Avire) in patent infringement proceedings in the IPEC . We were successful in reaching a settlement agreement with Strack, who had been producing a competing LED product, in which they took a licence under our client’s patent portfolio.