Intellectual property disputes
Intellectual property (IP) can be an important asset for any
business. IP includes intangible assets such as patents, trade
marks, design rights, copyright, confidential information and
database rights. However, to maximise the value of IP, businesses
should take steps to enforce and uphold their IP rights.
IP disputes are handled by our team of specialist IP litigators,
many of whom have acted in a number of ground-breaking and landmark
cases including some of the biggest and more difficult cases in
recent years which have resulted in new law.
Our service
We have long term experience in all forms of dispute resolution,
from litigation in Courts, international arbitration to mediation.
We have extensive experience of advising on a whole range of IP
disputes, ranging from all aspects of multinational patent
litigation and the unauthorised use of confidential information by
former employees to enforcing, and defending the validity of
registered trade marks, design rights and copyrights. We aim to
resolve disputes in a cost and time effective approach. We
regularly use innovative fee structures and avenues of alternative
dispute resolution.
We regularly advise clients in developing and implementing
international patent litigation strategies. We provide early advice
on infringement risk and validity assessments of registered IP
rights.
We will advise and educate you on strategies to avoid disputes
escalating where possible and seek, where in your interest to
resolve disputes as quickly and inexpensively as possible by
whatever means available including, where appropriate, alternative
dispute resolution methods. However, when necessary, we have the
experience and ability to conduct the most complex cases through
the courts and other tribunals.
Our experience
We conduct a diverse range of cases before the national courts
of Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, the EU Tribunals (both the
General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union) and
national and supranational patent and trademark offices such as the
Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the
European Patent Office (EPO). We also manage IP disputes in many
other jurisdictions on behalf of our clients.
Examples of recent cases on which we have advised include:
- Obtaining judgment for our client in a misuse of trade secrets
claim. This litigation has also spawned a number of parallel
actions, including patent issues, around the world including in
Denmark, France, India, Vietnam and Switzerland with which we are
involved.
- Representing a client in a WIPO arbitration on a patent
infringement case.
- Defending our client in a trade mark infringement action
brought by a well-known cosmetics company. This case involved
issues that were referred to the European Court of Justice for a
preliminary ruling.
- Defending a validity attack on our client's Community design
right registration for a well-known shoe design and working with
our client to enforce that right throughout the world.
- Representing a publishing house in unfair competition actions
against excessive title merchandising of public service TV
networks.
- Representing a large US photo archive in an action against
their exclusive European agent for breach of contract and
subsequent clearing of agency structure in Europe.
- Invalidating a patent on a sensor.
- Defending a large pharmaceutical company in patent infringement
and validity proceedings on a biotech patent resulting in the
invalidation of the plaintiff's patent.