Mike Jennings > AA Thornton > London, England > Lawyer Profile
AA Thornton Offices
Octagon Point
5 Cheapside
LONDON
EC2V 6AA
England
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Mike Jennings
Work Department
Electrical, electronics, telecoms and IT.
Position
Partner Mike Jennings leads AAThornton’s highly rated Electrical Patents group. He specialises in patent protection, patent oppositions and IP strategy advice for a range of technologies including areas of physics, electrical engineering and computer-related inventions.
Mike has more than 20 years’ experience handling patent drafting and prosecution of European, UK and PCT patent applications in areas such as computer systems, storage and software including computer modelling and simulation, automated controls, electromagnetic and optical sensing technologies for locating hydrocarbons and for detecting gases, and telecommunications. Mike handles a substantial opposition case load and has an enviable success rate in EPO oppositions and appeals thanks to commitment and proactivity.Mike also advises on software patentability and infringement and validity of patents.
Mike’s clients include multinational corporations and leading companies in the UK and many other countries, including clients in the oil and gas industry, the telecommunications sector, engineering, gas detection, consumer electronics and computing.
Career
Joined the patent profession in 1990 and spent his early years in private practice with a leading UK firm and with IBM before two years with Spruson & Ferguson in Sydney, Australia. Mike gained several years’ experience as an in-house senior patent attorney for IBM in the UK, handling invention reviews, patent drafting and prosecution and as lead attorney in patent licensing. He joined AA Thornton in 2007 and became a partner in 2008.
Memberships
Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), including Computer Technology Committee; European Patent Institute (EPI); AIPPI; and appointed to quality working group within Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO) for 2017-2020, liaising between industry and EPO management.
Education
University of Bristol (BSc Hons Physics).
Leisure
Mike grew up on the south coast of England and loves messing about in boats with his very active family.
Lawyer Rankings
London > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > PATMA: Patent attorneys
AA Thornton ‘combines high-quality advice with the ability to listen and understand the specific needs and challenges of its clients’, ranging from multinational corporations to SMEs, individual investors and academic institutions, based across Europe, North America, India and the Far East. Noted for its capability in handling patent prosecution and opposition work at the EPO, the practice is also well-placed to leverage the expertise of the firm’s litigation group. Adrian Bennett, who has experience in the drafting and prosecution of patent applications, leads the engineering, physics and mechanical devices team, while Mike Jennings heads up the electrical engineering, electronics telecoms and IT group and is praised as ‘a thought leader in this space’. Craig Turner spearheads the chemistry, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals team and handles contentious matters, particularly in the oilfield services and pharmaceuticals sectors. Marianne Privett, who is another key member of the practice, prosecutes patent applications and manages global portfolios.