8 New Square > London, England > Set Profile
8 New Square Offices
8 New Square
LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3QP
England
8 New Square > The Legal 500 Rankings
London Bar > Intellectual property Tier 1
The team at 8 New Square has a strong reputation for regularly handling major intellectual property litigation, with expertise across the entire range of patents, copyright, and trade marks, representing clients in all levels of the court system. Michael Tappin KC represented the claimant in Nokia v Oppo, a claim regarding patent infringement in the telecoms sector. Andrew Lykiardopoulos KC is notable in patent-related cases, and Martin Howe KC is strong in IP mandates concerning technology, including those involving the internet, broadcasting and computer systems, as well as biotech and pharmaceuticals. High-tech patent litigation is a significant strength of James Abrahams KC and he represents clients in the telecoms, pharmaceutical, advanced medical devices, and engineering industries. Lindsay Lane KC has a broad-ranging practice, with significant expertise in database rights, designs, passing off, and confidential information; she is instructed by the claimant in Ensygnia v Shell regarding a patent concerning bar codes. Justin Turner KC joined the set from Three New Square in July 2022.Rising stars
Leading Silks
2022 Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
‘The team is slick and professional, especially Nick Wise.’
‘Responsive and reliable. Nick Wise is a pleasure to deal with.’
‘8 New Square is an excellent IP specialist set, with real strength in depth.’
‘One of the best IP sets.’
‘They have great strength in depth and are very easy to work with, as well as being genuine experts.’
‘Excellent chambers with helpful and knowledgeable clerks and a wide variety of excellent barristers.’
‘Very strong set for all types of IP disputes.’
‘Nick Wise is very good.’
Work highlights
London Bar > IT and telecoms (infrastructure and contracts) Tier 2
Telecoms and IP disputes form the core focus of the barristers at 8 New Square which offers market leading expertise for cases involving FRAND rate determinations and liability of internet intermediaries. Recent trials to determine FRAND rates include Optis Cellular Technology LLC v Apple Retail in which Mark Chacksfield KC was instructed to act for the successful claimant. Jaani Riordan was instructed to act for the defendant in Nokia v OPPO, a multi-patent multi-trial action relating to mobile telecoms patents for 4G/5G functionality and FRAND rates. Riordan also appeared for Swiss/UK developers of a software defined mainframe platform in a claim defending allegations of breach of a customer agreement – the case raised novel issues concerning the interface between IT contract terms. Jonathan Hill acted for Hanger Holdings in a High Court Claim seeking to recover ownership of a domain name, in which the court determined for the first time in English law that a domain name is an item of property.Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
‘Excellent service. Could not be better.’
‘8 New Square are an excellent chambers who really go the extra mile on everything from fee arrangements to finding the right listing dates. Second to none.’
‘For telecoms cases, 8 New Square is the best set.’
Work highlights
London Bar > Media and entertainment Tier 2
The barristers at 8 New Square regularly act in high-profile media and entertainment cases, where barristers combine their specialist knowledge in television, film and broadcasting to work on varied cases. Martin Howe KC represented the claimant in Molavi v BBC and Gilbert, a copyright case concerning the scripts of a two-part episode of Silent Witness. Jonathan Hill represented the claimants in Shazam Productions v Only Fools The Dining Experience, in which it was found that an immersive dinner theatre performance featuring characters, but not dialogue, from Only Fools and Horses was a breach of the claimant's copyright, the first case establishing that a character can be a freestanding copyrighted work.Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
‘Specialist set in IP generally, pleasure to deal with.’
‘My dealings with the clerks were always over telephone and email, and they were always friendly, efficient and courteous.’
‘Very good’
Work highlights
London Bar > Telecoms Regulation
8 New Square > Set Profile
8 NEW SQUARE is the largest specialist intellectual property chambers in the United Kingdom. Chambers has 30 IP Barristers, including 12 KCs. We have two former Judges as door tenants as well as two active Judges sitting in the Supreme and High Courts. 8 New Square’s depth of knowledge and breadth of experience in intellectual property, media and entertainment and IT law is second to none. Chambers is involved in a significant proportion of all IP related trials each year, with members appearing in the majority of recent landmark cases before the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and specialised patent division of the High Court.
From our most senior silks to our most junior members, we can offer technical and scientific expertise over a wide variety of disciplines. Many members of chambers have graduate or post-graduate level scientific qualifications and/or technical industrial experience. Chambers also offers a commercially focused service. We have market-leading experience in dealing with IP issues for large multinational commercial organisations, small to medium-size businesses, government departments and universities as well as individual inventors, artists and musicians. We value our friendly and approachable style and we are committed to achieving the best for our clients.
The set: Members of chambers are at the forefront of intellectual property litigation; advising on and presenting cases with considerable technical detail. Most have at least an undergraduate science qualification and some have advanced science degrees. Chambers handles litigation for leading commercial organisations around the world and high-profile individuals, as well as small companies and individuals. Members appear in the major English courts and tribunals including the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and The Intellectual Property Office including trade marks and design registries, as well as in cases before the Copyright Tribunal and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. Several members have written leading textbooks on aspects of intellectual property. The Reports of Patent Cases and The Fleet Street Reports, the two main specialist intellectual property law reports, have been edited from these chambers for many years, as well as the most recent editions of Kerly on Trade Marks and Trade Names, The Modern Law of Copyright and Designs and Russell-Clarke and Howe on Industrial Designs.
International: Not only do members act in the major European courts, they also act in domestic and international arbitrations and mediations. Some are qualified to practice and appear in various courts overseas, including the Far East and the West Indies.
Types of work undertaken: Patents expertise covers every field of technology. Members act in cases concerning the validity, infringement and licensing of patents and know-how, including competition aspects. A team from chambers acted in the first ever biotechnology patent appeal to reach what is now known as the Supreme Court and a total of five counsel appeared before the same court in the recent landmark case of Unwired Planet v Huawei – a telecommunications dispute concerning worldwide FRAND licenses. Chamber’s expertise and quality in FRAND licensing disputes has again been demonstrated earlier this year following Judgment in the Interdigital Technology Corporation v Lenovo & Optis v Apple non-technical trials, with a total of 9 members of chambers appearing across the parties.
Other noteworthy patent cases of the last 12 months include Abott v Dexcom, Teva v Novartis & Philip Morris v Nicoventures Trading.
All members of chambers have wide experience in trade mark infringement, validity and passing-off litigation as well as disputes concerning ownership of trade marks. High profile cases over recent years include: Sandoz v Glaxo Group Ltd and the Court of Appeal decision in Lifestyle Equities v Amazon which is to be considered in the Supreme Court before the end of the year.
Copyright litigation and advice includes disputes over industrial design and artistic works, fashion designs, music and literary copyright. In the last year, members of chambers successfully represented the defendant in the Pasternak v Prescott dispute relating to the best-selling novel – The Secrets we Kept. Other most noteworthy cases over recent years include counsel having acted on both sides of the Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers dispute and successfully represented Ed Sheeran in his action against Mr Sami Chokri and Ors – a dispute surrounding the biggest selling song of 2017; “Shape of You”.
Breach of confidence is also an area of expertise, with members of chambers involved in major employer/employee disputes.
Privacy and media and entertainment related disputes form a large part of chambers’ work. Cases have involved leading companies and prominent individuals. Work in this area covers film, music and other related media contracts, publishing and broadcasting disputes, and performers’ rights. The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers, Sheeran v Chokri and Shazam v Only Fools The Dining Experience are all cases of recent significance.
Information technology is another major area of chambers’ practice which has included appearances at the Supreme Court – most notably the Cartier International v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd action. This area of expertise includes contractual disputes before the Technology and Construction Court, advice on internet and domain names database rights and data protection.
Further information and news is available on the chambers’ website: www.8newsquare.co.uk.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Head of Chambers | Daniel Alexander KC | ||
Chambers Director | Ben Newham | ||
Senior Clerk | Nicholas Wise | ||
Head of Operations | Tony Liddon | ||
Practice Manager | Martin Williams | ||
Practice Manager | Paul Worrall | ||
Practice Manager | Philip Taylor | ||
Junior Clerk | Charles Nicholls | ||
Junior Clerk | Oliver Kent | ||
Business Development and Administration Manager | Harri Gibson | ||
Marketing & Administration Executive | Samantha Bunn | ||
Head of Chambers | ALEXANDER KC, Daniel (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | HOWE KC, Martin (1980) | ||
Member of Chambers | TAPPIN KC, Michael (1991) | ||
Member of Chambers | TURNER KC, Justin (1992) | ||
Member of Chambers | SPECK KC, Adrian (1993) | ||
Member of Chambers | LYKIARDOPOULOS KC, Andrew (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | MAY KC, Charlotte (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | MOODY-STUART KC, Tom (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | ABRAHAMS KC, James (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | LANE KC, Lindsay (1996) | ||
Member of Chambers | CHACKSFIELD KC, Mark (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | St VILLE KC, James (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | CLARK, Fiona (1982) | ||
Member of Chambers | BERKELEY, Iona (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | WARD, Henry (2000) | ||
Member of Chambers | HILL, Jonathan (2000) | ||
Member of Chambers | BOWHILL, Jessie (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | WHYTE, James (2005) | ||
Member of Chambers | JAMAL, Isabel (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | CHANTRIELLE, Ashton (2011) | ||
Member of Chambers | DUNCAN, William (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | RIORDAN, Jaani (2009 Australia, 2012 UK) | ||
Member of Chambers | KEAY, Maxwell (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | JONES, Tom (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | CONWAY, Michael (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | COLLETT, Beth (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | DIXON, Jennifer (2017) | ||
Member of Chambers | EDWARDS, Henry (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | EUSTACE, Edmund (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | MARSHALL, Joshua (2021) |
Barrister Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
James Abrahams | James Abrahams KC is a leading silk in patent litigation and all… | View Profile | |
Daniel Alexander | Head of Chambers. Barrister specialising principally in intellectual property, information technology, competition,… | View Profile | |
John Baldwin | Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law, media and entertainment… | View Profile | |
Iona Berkeley | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including trade marks;… | View Profile | |
Jessie Bowhill | Jessie is an intellectual property barrister with a focus on media and… | View Profile | |
Mr Mark Chacksfield | Mark is a highly regarded silk with an outstanding reputation in complex… | View Profile | |
Fiona Clark | Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law including related contractual… | View Profile | |
Miss Beth Collett | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Mr Michael Conway | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, copyright,… | View Profile | |
Mr Henry Edwards | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Mr Edmund Eustace | Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Jonathan Hill | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law including patents; copyright;… | View Profile | |
Martin Howe KC | Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property (patents, trade marks, copyrights,… | View Profile | |
Isabel Jamal | Isabel’s practice focuses particularly on large and technically complex patent cases. Isabel’s… | View Profile | |
Thomas Jones | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Maxwell Keay | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Lindsay Lane | Barrister specialising in all areas of IP and media and entertainment. Recent… | View Profile | |
Andrew Lykiardopoulos | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents; registered… | View Profile | |
Mr Joshua Marshall | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade… | View Profile | |
Charlotte May | Barrister (KC) specialising in all areas of intellectual property law and scientific… | View Profile | |
Thomas Moody-Stuart | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property including patents, copyright, registered/unregistered… | View Profile | |
Jaani Riordan | Junior with technical background in computer science and expertise in all fields… | View Profile | |
Adrian Speck | Barrister (KC) specialising in all aspects of intellectual property, media and entertainment,… | View Profile | |
James St Ville KC | James St.Ville is a barrister specialising in intellectual property and IT law,… | View Profile | |
Michael Tappin | Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law, but with a… | View Profile | |
Henry Ward | Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law including patents; registered… | View Profile | |
James Whyte | Barrister specialising in intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on technically… | View Profile |
- Intellectual property