Venner Shipley LLP

IP Litigation & Commercial IP

Geoff is a Partner and Solicitor specialising in IP litigation and commercial IP heading up Venner Shipley's Litigation and Licensing team. His experience includes acting for a wide range of clients across many sectors including life sciences, electronics, telecoms, chemicals, aviation and financial services.

Geoff’s cases often involve complex issues and forging new legal precedents, as well as the coordination of parallel proceedings across jurisdictions in Europe and the US.

The vast majority of his successes are settled out of Court, recently including a number of enforcement matters for a well-known commercial website in regards to a complaint regarding a competitors’ ambiguous use of search engine optimisation.

Geoff also advises on non-contentious intellectual property matters including setting up and implementing IP licensing and ownership structures, IP due diligence, IP audits and brand management.

He has managed trade mark matters for long-term clients ranging from FTSE 100 companies (including their litigation, portfolio management, occasional due diligence and corporate restructures) to SMEs looking to set up and maintain robust IP strategies.

Geoff has also worked on a pro bono basis in several ‘David and Goliath-type situations’, with great success.

Geoff joined Field Fisher Waterhouse in 2003 where he trained and qualified into their IP department as a solicitor in 2005. He joined Bird & Bird’s IP department in 2007, and left to join A.A. Thornton & Co. as a Partner in May 2016. AA Thornton combined with Venner Shipley in December 2024.

Member of The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)

BSc Human Genetics, Nottingham University Post-graduate Diploma in Law and LPC, Nottingham Law School Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, University of Bristol Solicitor in England & Wales

Geoff enjoys sports generally - particularly golf, squash, and skiing.