Intellectual Property & Information Technology

According to one of the leading independent guides to the legal professional, Wilberforce's barristers "understand the difficulties facing solicitors and produce their work in a user-friendly fashion." This could be because we've been there ourselves: uniquely two of our members are former intellectual property partners of ‘magic circle' law firms.

They can draw on their understanding of clients' commercial constraints to offer a fresh approach to the resolution of disputes. This, together with the famous accessibility, strong advocacy and expert legal analysis of our commercial barristers, makes the team uniquely placed to deal with wider business issues that arise in IP and IT cases, as well as the core rights themselves.

Our IP and IT practitioners work with UK and foreign solicitors, trade mark and patent attorneys, and in-house counsel, to represent a wide array of clients. They appear at all levels of the English Courts and in the UK Intellectual Property Office, argue complex points of law in the European Court of Justice, and prepare written submissions to OHIM in European trade mark and design cases. Alternative dispute resolution is a speciality, and a number of members are qualified as mediators and arbitrators. 

Typical work includes:

• Brand protection and enforcement: trade mark infringement and passing off litigation, anti-counterfeiting and parallel imports cases, domain name disputes, trade mark oppositions, and advice on branding strategy.
• Designs and copyright: design and copyright protection under UK and EU law, as well as under international treaties.
• Patents and trade secrets: the protection of investments in technology and know-how, with particular expertise in issues arising from licensing arrangements.
• Computer contracts and other commercial agreements: drafting and interpreting agreements governing ownership, use and enforcement of IP rights.
• Databases, data protection and privacy law: protecting or uncovering and using information held on electronic and other media.
• EU competition and international law: interpretation of European Directives and Regulations relating to IP and technology.

Members of chambers also advise on a wide range of commercial issues and disputes affecting owners of brands and technology, including product launches, advertising, trade libel and unfair competition.

Intellectual Property group brochure

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