8 New Square > London, England > Set Profile

8 New Square Intellectual Property
8 New Square
LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3QP
England

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

Beth Collett – 8 New SquareBeth is easy to speak with, tactically astute, and highly responsive.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 1

Leading Silks

Ranked: Tier 1
Andrew Lykiardopoulos KC – 8 New SquareAndrew has excellent strategic thoughts and input. He is a real team player who goes the extra mile to get the best result for the client, and he is detailed and hard working.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Charlotte May KC – 8 New Square 'Charlotte is thorough and tenacious, and no stone is left unturned. She is also a great team-player and her advocacy is clear and precise.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 1
Justin Turner KC – 8 New Square 'Justin is an absolute legend.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 3
Martin Howe KC – 8 New SquareMartin commands respect, as he is thorough, thoughtful, and extremely knowledgeable. He is excellent at seeing the whole picture as well as the detail, he knows the law inside out, he digests the facts quickly, and he is excellent at advising on strategy.
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 4

2022 Silks

James St Ville KC – 8 New SquareJames is renowned for his attention to detail and the amount of time that he invests into getting his cases in the best possible position for success. His advocacy skills are very good, and he has a persuasive style.’

Leading Juniors

Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 1
Jaani Riordan – 8 New Square ‘Jaani is one of the best all round juniors at the IP Bar. Brilliant for both patent and non-patent work, he is super hardworking and goes into forensic detail.’
Ranked: Tier 2
Jessie Bowhill – 8 New Square ‘Jessie is intelligent, well-prepared, and tenacious. She has a very well-structured approach to everything she does and her advocacy is excellent; one of the best trade mark barristers at the Bar.’
Ranked: Tier 2
Ashton Chantrielle8 New Square 'Ashton is excellent at both the paperwork and the advocacy. She is organised, engaged, involved, keen, and brilliant on her feet.'
Ranked: Tier 3
Jonathan Hill – 8 New SquareJonathan is excellent technically. He gives great strategic advice, clients love him, and he is one of the best IP barristers.'
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3
Iona Berkeley – 8 New Square 'Iona is extremely bright, thoughtful, thorough, and practical. She has a good grasp of the court's likely reaction to a case and can be relied upon to anticipate potential issues.'
Ranked: Tier 4
Ranked: Tier 4
Ranked: Tier 4

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

Ranked: Tier 2
Ranked: Tier 4
Mark Chacksfield KC8 New Square 'Mark's advocacy is very polished and he is stepping up from the junior silk into a more senior role nicely. He has a very calm yet powerful style of advocacy and reads the bench well.'
Ranked: Tier 4
Ranked: Tier 4
Ranked: Tier 4

Leading Juniors

Jaani Riordan8 New Square 'Very thorough and extremely thoughtful; extremely good advocacy. He goes further than the intructions and really looks even into the technical aspects of the dispute.'
Ranked: Tier 2
Jonathan Hill8 New Square ‘Technically excellent, personable and gives great strategic advice: clients love him.’    
Ranked: Tier 3

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

Martin Howe KC8 New Square ‘The great thing about Martin is that he has such a broad knowledge of and interest in the law that he can spot new angles in complex matters. He is authoritative but very easy to work with.’
Ranked: Tier 2

Leading Juniors

Jessie Bowhill8 New Square 'Jessie is an exceedingly bright, detail-focused barrister. Her particular strength lies in her knowledge of musical theory which positions her perfectly to engage with expert musicological evidence and apply it to the law.'
Ranked: Tier 3
Jonathan Hill8 New Square ‘Very good team player with an in depth knowledge of copyright and IP issues’
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3

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 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.

 

 

 

Department Name Email 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)
Photo Name Position Profile
James Abrahams photo James Abrahams James Abrahams KC is a leading silk in patent litigation and all…
Daniel Alexander photo Daniel Alexander Head of Chambers. Barrister specialising principally in intellectual property, information technology, competition,…
John Baldwin photo John Baldwin Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law, media and entertainment…
Iona Berkeley photo Iona Berkeley Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including trade marks;…
Jessie Bowhill photo Jessie Bowhill Jessie is an intellectual property barrister with a focus on media and…
Mark Chacksfield photo Mr Mark Chacksfield Mark is a highly regarded silk with an outstanding reputation in complex…
Fiona Clark photo Fiona Clark Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law including related contractual…
Beth Collett photo Miss Beth Collett Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade…
Michael Conway photo Mr Michael Conway Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, copyright,…
Henry Edwards photo Mr Henry Edwards Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade…
Edmund Eustace photo Mr Edmund Eustace Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law including patents, trade…
Jonathan Hill photo Jonathan Hill Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law including patents; copyright;…
Martin Howe KC photo Martin Howe KC Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property (patents, trade marks, copyrights,…
Isabel Jamal photo Isabel Jamal Isabel’s practice focuses particularly on large and technically complex patent cases. Isabel’s…
Thomas Jones photo Thomas Jones Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade…
Maxwell Keay photo Maxwell Keay Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade…
Lindsay Lane photo Lindsay Lane Barrister specialising in all areas of IP and media and entertainment. Recent…
Andrew Lykiardopoulos photo Andrew Lykiardopoulos Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents; registered…
Joshua Marshall photo Mr Joshua Marshall Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trade…
Charlotte May photo Charlotte May Barrister (KC) specialising in all areas of intellectual property law and scientific…
Thomas Moody-Stuart photo Thomas Moody-Stuart Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property including patents, copyright, registered/unregistered…
Jaani Riordan photo Jaani Riordan Junior with technical background in computer science and expertise in all fields…
Adrian Speck photo Adrian Speck Barrister (KC) specialising in all aspects of intellectual property, media and entertainment,…
James St Ville KC photo James St Ville KC James St.Ville is a barrister specialising in intellectual property and IT law,…
Michael Tappin photo Michael Tappin Barrister specialising in all aspects of intellectual property law, but with a…
Henry Ward photo Henry Ward Barrister specialising in all areas of intellectual property law including patents; registered…
James Whyte photo James Whyte Barrister specialising in intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on technically…