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‘One of the top firms’, Boult Wade Tennant has a ‘good team of individuals with a diverse skill set’ and ‘provides a complete service’ to a client base that includes Yahoo!, KeyMed, Abbott Laboratories and Kraft Foods. Highlights included successfully defending Rapid Action Packaging’s ‘long-life sandwich pack’ patent at a High Court appeal. Rupert Cross became senior partner in 2011, following the retirement of Bruce Alexander. Part of the hi-tech and electrical group, Cross and Dr Alex Frost form a ‘technically and legally very astute team’, and group head Dr Jonathan Palmer is ‘organised, consistent and supportive of clients and his team’. In the chemical and materials group, Dr Rohan Setna ‘always provides very good advice’. The ‘technically excellent and commercially very astute’ Tony Pluckrose acts for The Boeing Company on filings and European oppositions.

Carpmaels & Ransford has a well-respected life sciences practice. It acted for Neurim Pharmaceutical in a High Court appeal regarding its application for multimillion-pound insomnia treatment Circadin, and acted for Novartis in a successful hearing relating to its blockbuster drug Gleevec. Richard Jackson leads the engineering and IT group, which includes newly promoted partner John Brunner. Paul Howard heads the chemistry and pharmaeuticals group, and Hugh Goodfellow leads the biotech team. Chris Mercer became a consultant.

D Young & Co LLP has ‘strong acumen in defending patents’, and ‘deep knowledge and understanding of the science behind patented inventions’. On the life sciences side, Catherine Mallalieu and Simon O’ Brien are ‘very reliable and have excellent legal and scientific backgrounds’. Zoe Clyde-Watson represented Protexeon in the successful defence of an anaesthetic formulation patent. In the electronics, engineering and IT group, Ian Harris acted in a successful revocation of a patent related to business processes. Anthony Albutt advises clients such as Toyota and GKN Aerospace. Other key clients include Sony, Teva and Oxford Biomedica.

Dehns’ patents group is noted for its ‘very good business acumen’ and ‘skilful drafting of patents and claims’. Its active clients include Honda, GSK, Medtronic and United Technologies. Kerry Tomlinson and Hanna Dzieglewska lead the firm’s engineering and biotech/life sciences groups, respectively. Neil Campbell handles chemicals patents, and recently advised leading paint manufacturer Jotun on amending a patent that was being infringed by a rival company.

Gill Jennings & Every LLP fields a team of 11 partners across its life sciences and IT and engineering groups, and is well regarded for its ‘personal service’ and ‘technical background’. Highlights included cases for new client Research In Motion, and patent filings across UK, Europe and the US for Oracle. On the life sciences side, it successfully defended an opposition to a European patent related to brain tumour therapy for Ark Therapeutics. Other clients include Mastercard, P&G, Bose and Lupin Pharma. Notable individuals include Robert Skone James, Helen Jones, Peter Finnie and Robert Perry. Stephen Haley provides ‘relevant background experience of working in Japanese industry’.

J A Kemp & Co’s patent group provides ‘timely and succinct advice’, and its ‘technical and professional expertise is completely comprehensive’. Biotech head Geoffrey Woods, who has ‘enormous experience and is a safe, expert pair of hands’, acted for longstanding client UCB in securing patent protection for whooping cough vaccines. More recently the group has been filing applications to extend patent protection for the product. Other highlights included advising Almirall in an EPO opposition hearing against Boehringer Ingelheim. Recommended individuals in the electronics and engineering group include Mark Roberts (‘always ready with useful advice and creative solutions’), and Martin Jackson (‘efficient, courteously critical when needed, excellent technical grasp’).

Kilburn & Strode is well regarded for its responsive and client-oriented service. Headline work included acting for Mars in a multi-opponent opposition to a Nestlé probiotic food patent, and a successful appeal for Electromagnetic Geoservices. In the IT, electronics and physics group, Peter Hale is ‘approachable and very alert to technical matters’, and Richard Howson is ‘a particular expert in oppositions’. In the engineering group, James Miller is a ‘strong draftsman, with good interpersonal skills and technical knowledge’. Lucy Stewart joined as a consultant from Gill Jennings & Every LLP.

Marks & Clerk LLP’s London team has 19 partners and draws on the firm’s significant global presence to advise across a range of sectors. Dr John Collins leads in technical fields such as medical devices, and Ed Round’s ‘ability to analyse situations relating to IP infringement is very good’. Highlights included successfully arguing that pharmaceutical dosage regimes are patentable, before the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal. Clients include Bridgestone, Jeyes, Pixar Animation Studios, Daiichi Sankyo, Samsung, and Tate & Lyle.

Mewburn Ellis LLP’s key focus is on EPO oppositions and appeals, and it is particularly well regarded for its expertise in life sciences, providing ‘intelligent, timely advice’ and ‘deep knowledge of technologies’ to a number of household-name hi-tech companies. Stephen Carter successfully defended Verathon Inc at an EPO appeal, upholding its Glidescope video laryngoscope patent against an opposition by Aircraft Medical. Simon Kremer is recommended.

A A Thornton & Co’s expertise spans the chemical, electrical and mechanical sectors. It handles all EU patent work for longstanding client Halliburton. Highlights included successfully obtaining patent protection for Thromboserin Ltd’s thrombosis drug therapy and Cipla’s medical device Revolizer. Philip Curtis and Craig Turner ‘demonstrate significant knowledge and expertise in the prosecution of patent applications’, and Nick South and Martin Hedges are also recommended.

Abel & Imray has expertise in the areas of hi-tech and chemistry, and a niche focus in biotechnology. Representative clients include international and domestic companies such as ExxonMobil and Norgine Limited, as well as academic institutions such as Imperial College and Yale University. Sue Scott is ‘all strength and no weaknesses’.

Harrison Goddard Foote HGF is ‘a very well-organised operation’ with ‘an incisive and businesslike approach to developing and protecting its clients ’ IP’. Life sciences head Richard Williams and engineering head Matthew Dixon have ‘excellent knowledge, experience and analytical acumen’. Clients include Ipsen, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Isis Innovation and Jaguar Land Rover. Claire Irvine joined the life sciences group from Marks & Clerk LLP.

‘Professional, commercially astute and knowledgeable’, Keltie has a breadth of sectoral expertise, with clients including Cobra UK, Lafarge, Shell, Phoenix Group and NBC Universal. Devanand Crease is ‘a first-class biotech patent agent, smart and very concise’. In the telecoms/electronics team, Mark Richardson ‘knows how to distil complicated technological issues and communicate them effectively’. In the physics/electromechanical group, the highly regarded Sean Cummings is ‘very commercial, open minded and articulate’. David Keltie, Jakob Bumke and Dudley Hawkins are also recommended.

Mathys & Squire LLP provides ‘proactive advice’ to clients such as Cisco, the BBC, Biogen, HSBC, McAfee, Syntaxin, Schering-Plough, and BP North America. Recent instructions include prosecution work and successful EPO appeals. Specialising in IT and medical devices, Ilya Kazi is highly regarded as ‘a master of his craft’ and ‘a talented strategist’. In the life sciences and chemistry group, Martin MacLean and Chris Hamer are also recommended. Philippa Griffin was promoted to the partnership, and Annabel Hector joined as a consultant from Cleveland.

RGC Jenkins & Co has ‘in-depth knowledge of patent procedures and specialist scientific areas’, and is noted for its expertise in the hi-tech sector. Headline work included successful patent prosecutions for BA and Intel, as well as successfully defending BSkyB in European patent oppositions. David Musker and Felix Rummler are recommended.

Reddie & Grose LLP is distinguished by its combined expertise in chemistry and metallurgy. It has ‘an ability to appreciate the commercial implications of patent strategy’ and ‘to show imagination in its advice’. Key clients include Qualcomm, Ferring and Philip Morris.

Venner Shipley LLP is well regarded for its ‘great technical and industry knowledge and international experience’. Across its electronics/software, chemical/life sciences and mechanical/designs groups, Matthew Read, Allie Elend and Ian Grey are recommended. Clients include Sanyo, British American Tobacco, and Vectura Group.

Withers & Rogers’ team is ‘technically excellent, bright and client focused’, and acts for Apple, Microsoft and McCain Foods, among others. Its electronics, computing and physics group is led by three partners, including Nicholas Wallin, who recently advised Gyrus Medical and new client Roke Manor Research. Ivor Harrison has retired.

Ablett & Stebbing handles patent work across a range of technologies, with specialist areas of focus including pharmaceuticals, optical and digital technologies, and genetics. Clients include Johnson & Johnson, TDK Lambda, and Axis-Shield Diagnostics.

EIP has strength in electronics, and has set up a biotech and medical devices group led by Andrew Sharples, who joined from McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP in 2010. Senior partner Jerome Spaargaren leads the digital group, which acts for clients such as France Telecom (Orange).

‘Providing excellent, business-focused, practical advice’, Olswang’s patent group acts for clients including GSK, Xerox and The Wellcome Trust, and also handles all patent applications for Microsoft’s European operations. Group head Robert Stephen provides ‘high-quality and carefully considered advice’, and is building a team with strong biotechnology expertise. James Kinnaird joined from Potter Clarkson LLP, and is ‘one to watch’.

Barker Brettell’s life sciences and chemistry group advises clients such as Britannia Pharmaceuticals, Reading University, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Convatech. James Peel’s ‘arguments, advice and support are second to none’.

Beck Greener has a strong focus on the life sciences sector.

Beresford & Co’s Keith Beresford is well regarded.

Cleveland has a UK and US client base, and has filed and prosecuted patent cases for companies such as Syngenta.

Ipulse has ‘an enlightened rather than a traditional approach to IP’, and was strengthened by the arrival of the ‘proficient, strategic and commercially focused’ Justin Hill and his team from McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP. Clients include Onzo, Reckitt Benckiser, NutraSweet, and Research in Motion. David Rickard is recommended.

Urquhart-Dykes & Lord LLP’s sector strengths include life sciences and consumer goods.

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