The Legal 500

Boult Wade Tennant has a good reputation, with work extending to Japan, US and Korea. Recent highlights include winning an appeal for Cinpres regarding a gas injection molding patent. Nigel Tucker, Matthew Spencer and Felicity Hide were promoted to the partnership in May 2008. Caterpillar and Beckman Coulter are new clients.

The oldest patent attorney firm in the UK, Carpmaels & Ransford has ‘an excellent reputation’ in life sciences. Recent highlights include the successful defence of Novartis’ European patent anti-viral drug Fluvastatin, and the company’s patent for a non-toxic vaccine component mucosal adjuvant against two oppositions. James Warner, who specialises in medicinal chemistry, is ‘excellent’ and biotechnology partner Cameron Marshall is ‘very bright’. John Brunner is a ‘rising star’ and Huw Hallybone ‘doesn’t give opponents an easy ride’. Glyn Truscott joined the firm from Gill Jennings & Every LLP as an associate in 2008.

Frank B. Dehn & Co. won a significant appeal in 2008 to a patent opposition for Medtronic regarding a ‘drug-eluting’ coating, which is used to stop scar tissue forming around medical devices in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The practice also won a patent on appeal for an innovation that turns waste slag back into steel. New clients include Isis Innovation and Donaldson Company. Michael Butler is ‘very good and clear thinking, and gives sound advice’, and Neil Campbell is also recommended.

Gill Jennings & Every LLP ‘has a host of good people’. Pliva is a major new pharmaceutical client for the firm. Recent highlights include the successful defence of an opposition by Boots against a patent of Proctor & Gamble covering the combination of ingredients present in the Boots product Protect & Perfect. Robert Skone James is ‘an authority on patents in the IT and engineering fields’. The practice recruited three new associates in 2008, including Jack Cundy from Carpmaels & Ransford, Christopher Owen from RGC Jenkins & Co, and Kerry Rees from W P Thompson & Co.

The ‘excellent’ J A Kemp & Co handled a successful revocation action for Laboratorios Almirall SA concerning a product in a late phase of clinical trials and the correlating patent opposition. The firm has a broad presence with offices in Munich, London and Oxford. Martin Jackson and Dr Pamela Tuxworth were promoted to the partnership, and Charlotte Stirling and Dr Dominic O’Brien joined the firm as associates from Frank B. Dehn & Co. and AstraZeneca, respectively. Major clients include ASML, Toyota and University College London.

Kilburn & Strode successfully defended two oppositions on behalf of Amgen in 2008. The practice promoted Elizabeth Crooks and Richard Howson to partnership. Gwilym Roberts is ‘extremely good’ and, as well as Nick Hedley and Peter Hale, is qualified to litigate. New clients include Aston Martin and NHS Innovation.

Marks & Clerk LLP is comfortably the largest patent attorney firm in the UK, helped by its merger with the Lloyd Wise Group towards the end of 2007. It acts for a wide range of major companies, including many from the US and Far East. Examples include Samsung, Toshiba, Boeing, Arcadia Group and AstraZeneca. Robert Carpmael joined from Carpmaels & Ransford as asenior associate.

Mewburn Ellis LLP has a strong reputation for patent work. 2008 highlights included patenting the LZR RACER swimsuit by Speedo, which was worn by 94% of the gold medal winners at the Beijing Olympics, including Michael Phelps. In April 2008, the practice promoted five associates to the partnership. Consulting partner Ian Armitage ‘does not give an easy ride’ to opponents, while Simon Kiddle is also recommended.

Abel & Imray closed its Munich office due to the introduction of online patent filing, but continued to grow its presence in Bath and London, recruiting Emily Teesdale to the London office in 2008, together with two new patent trainees. In 2008, the group finally secured a contested patent portfolio for a special type of paper that can store magnetic information similar to a credit card, for Arjowiggins. The practice also handled a successful patent prosecution for Thiakis, an appetite suppressant company that originated as an offshoot of Imperial College, London. Notable clients of the firm include Fujitsu, Canon, Bayer and the Time Out Group.

D Young & Co promoted Kit Wong in the London office to partner in 2008. A highlight of the year was obtaining multiple successful oppositions for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Boehringer Ingelheim is a new client of the biotech team. Jonathan DeVile is ‘very organised’ and has ‘good commercial acumen’.

Headed by the ‘very bright’ Ilya Kazi, Mathys & Squire LLP successfully revoked the Amgen PEGylation patent on behalf of Biogen. Other 2008 highlights included handling 12 oppositions for Proctor & Gamble.

Global Lottery Associates, the Energy Technologies Institute, Linpac Allibert, Guys and St Thomas’s NHS Trust, and Canon Anelva are examples of clients that RGC Jenkins & Co gained in 2008. Other key clients include Barclays Bank, Agent Provocateur and British Airways. The practice achieved a settlement for Techne Cambridge and its parent company that resolved all disputes with ABI regarding a thermal cycler patent. Alastair Lowe joined the Bristol office as an associate in 2008.

The ‘well-respected’ Reddie & Grose has a good reputation in patents and trade marks. The practice’s overall design, trade mark and patent filings increased by 13% from 2007 to 2008. Qualcomm became a client of the firm in 2008 for European patent filings. Aidan Robson and Victoria Bradford are ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘responsive’.

Venner Shipley LLP provides an ‘outstanding’ level of service to companies and individuals involved in a plethora of industries, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The ‘excellent’ Matthew Read, the ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘hardworking’ Pawel Piotrowicz, and Paul Derry are all recommended.

Withers & Rogers provides a ‘very good’ level of service. The practice was successful against the UK patent office in an appeal ruling that the operating system software of its client, Symbian, was eligible for patenting. Rachel Wallis joined the London office as a partner in April 2009.

A A Thornton & Co recruited Marcus Amery from Carpmaels & Ransford to its mechanical department. The practice successfully defended a European patent for an automated cow-feeding machine.

Ablett & Stebbing secured a registered design right for a new observation tower called the i360 in Brighton, by the architects of the London Eye, Marks Barfield. New clients include Kontract, Causata, Medivent, Greens Industry, Rare Basic and Hays Holdings.

‘Technically expert’ in networking and telephony, EIP’s ‘strong team’ offers ‘sound’ advice to clients in the electronics, telecoms and optics arenas. The practice recently represented Orange Personal Communications in appeal proceedings at the European Patent Office. Jerome Spaargaren and Neil Forsyth provide ‘good tactical advice’.

Harrison Goddard Foote HGF recruited Matthew Dixon to its London office in April 2009, from IP 21 Limited. The practice successfully defended EPO oppositions for Nalco and advised Shire Pharmaceuticals on due diligence in relation to its acquisition of anti-scarring product Juvista. New clients include Invitrogen andGen-Probe.

Keltie set up an IP consultancy group in September 2008. New clients for the practice include T4, Glu Mobile and Hearst Corporation. The practice has worked on prosecuting Glu Mobile’s recently acquired patent portfolio. Richard Lawrence, formerly senior head of IP for Hewlett Packard, joined as a director in 2008.

Barker Brettell has six UK offices. The practice drafts, files and prosecutes patents in the biotech, IT, mechanical engineering, medical and physics fields.

Beck Greener has a successful record of winning oppositions on behalf of clients in the energy, media and life science sectors.

Beresford & Co is a London-based firm covering all aspects of patents.

FJ Cleveland’s Annabel Hector acted for Virgin Atlantic Airways in opposition proceedings relating to upper class seat patents.

Urquhart-Dykes & Lord LLP recently assisted drinks manufacturer Diageo, amongst other work.