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Intellectual Property

Our cross-border Intellectual Property team successfully advises market-leading companies on high-profile IP litigation and complex IP-driven transactions

We support our clients with outstanding legal skills, expert sector knowledge and a pragmatic mindset whether in complex IP transactions or in cross-border IP disputes. More specifically:

  • Our transactional practice encompasses major M&A and carveouts, and drafting and negotiating strategic IP agreements, including joint-venture, collaboration and licencing agreements.
  • Our litigation practice covers the full scope of dispute resolution, including court proceedings, arbitration, mediation and settlement discussions.

We tackle the entire spectrum of IP rights, including patents, supplementary protection certificates, copyrights, designs and trademarks. Many of our lawyers have technical backgrounds and therefore have in-depth understanding of complex technologies. Our practice also covers issues of confidentiality, as well as trade secrets protection and misappropriation.

Given the increasing interplay between IP and competition law, we work hand-in-hand with our market-leading Antitrust team to provide comprehensive and integrated advice to our clients. More generally, we work closely with colleagues from many offices and practices across the Firm, including Corporate/M&A, Tax, Employment, Telecoms and Data, so as to deliver holistic strategic advice and seamless implementation spanning multiple jurisdictions.

We advise clients in a broad range of sectors, with a focus on IP-heavy industries such as healthcare and tech/telecoms.

Our experience

  • Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a cross-border, “innovator vs innovator” patent litigation initiated by Amgen in the US, the UK, France, Germany and beyond, in the field of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies
  • Sierra Wireless in ICC arbitration proceedings on 2G/3G standard essential patent licences and filing related complaints with the EU Commission, the US FTC, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and ETSI
  • Merck & Co., Inc. in its long-running, high-profile multi-jurisdictional trade-mark infringement and breach of contract dispute against Germany-based Merck KGaA regarding use of the “MERCK” name on the Internet
  • Seoul Semiconductor in its global enforcement campaign against major competitors and their distributors in key jurisdictions, in the field of LED technology
  • Nestle Health Sciences on the drafting and negotiation of complex licence and supply agreements with Valbiotis, for the development and global commercialisation of an innovative, patented dietary supplement, for diabetic patients
  • Rosneft on the establishment of the Arctic Research Center, a joint venture with ExxonMobil for the development of new technologies and products for oil exploration in the Arctic, involving the drafting and negotiation of a suite of IP licensing, technology sharing and R&D agreements.
  • Siemens on the technology licensing arrangements of its £1bn acquisition of the industrial gas turbines business of Rolls-Royce
  • Hutchison Whampoa’s £10.5bn potential acquisition of the O2 mobile telecommunications business in the UK and its £300m acquisition of UK Broadband

Insights and resources

UPC Hub

UPC Hub

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competition

Implementing and Enforcing Standard Essential Patents

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EU flags

EU regulatory milestones timeline in 2021

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ethernet cables plugged into hardware

Artificial intelligence and intellectual property

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Connected city

Linklaters Tech Insights

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Tech Legal Outlook 2023

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Arc de Triumph

The Patent Litigation Law Review: France

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Brandenburg Gate

The Patent Litigation Law Review: Germany

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