Mr Tim Austen > Three New Square Intellectual Property > London, England > Barrister Profile
Three New Square Offices
Three New Square
3 NEW SQUARE, LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3RS
England
- Set Profile
- Go to...
Mr Tim Austen
Work Department
Intellectual property disputes, including patent, trade mark, copyright, design right and trade secret litigation.
Position
Tim practises in all aspects of intellectual property law, with a particular focus on patents, trade marks and confidential information. He is a graduate in biochemistry and has broad experience in patents disputes, in particular those in the life sciences sector. He has appeared in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. Tim has also appeared in opposition and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office, in trade mark proceedings before the General Court, and in patent and trade mark proceedings before the UK Intellectual Property Office.
Selected recent cases:
Patents
Abbott Laboratories x Dexcom (on-body glucose monitoring devices)
Warner-Lambert v Actavis (second medical use patent, trial, appeals to the Supreme Court, and subsequent damages inquiry)
JCB v Manitou (control systems for telehandlers, appeal pending)
Coloplast v Salts Healthcare (ostomy pouches)
Moderna v Pfizer & BioNTech (covid vaccines)
Coloplast v MacGregor Healthcare (catheters)
Edwards Lifesciences v Meril (heart valves)
Trade marks
Match Group v Muzmatch (online dating services, High Court trial and Court of Appeal)
Fidelity Investments v Fidelis Insurance (trade marks, passing off)
The Military Mutual v Police Mutual (extended passing off)
Victoria’s Secret v The Beauty Traders (trade marks, parallel imports)
Other rights
AlfaSharp v ADG Capital Management (database right, copyright, breach of contract)
Salt Ship Design v Prysmian Powerlink (confidential information, cable laying ship design)
Coward v Phaestos (confidential information, copyright, business software)
TF3 & Conair (patents, unregistered designs, haircare devices, and EPO proceedings)
The Racing Partnership v SIS (database right, copyright, confidential information)
Sandoz v Reckitt Benckiser (damages enquiry following breach of competition law)
Tim appears led and unled, and has represented parties unled in IPEC trials and in appeals, and in substantial applications in the High Court, including for amendment of pleadings (Salt Ship Design v Prysmian Powerlink), summary judgment (Price v Flitcraft), disclosure and collateral use of disclosed documents (JCB v Manitou), contempt of court and committal (Price v Flitcraft).
Career
2012 onwards Barrister at Three New Square
2012 Called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn)
2007-2012 Allen & Overy, London (2008-2009 at Fenwick & West, San Francisco, USA)
Languages
Italian, French (both basic knowledge).
Memberships
IP Bar Association; contributor to Terrell on the Law of Patents (currently the 19th edition).
Education
Oxford University (Somerville College) (1998-2002 MSc Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry); College of Law (2003-04 Graduate Diploma in Law); Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (2004-05 Legal Practice Course); Oxford University (2009-2010 Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice).
Leisure
Football, tennis, quizzes, bringing up children. Sometimes seen on a 5-a-side pitch.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Intellectual property
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Tim Austen – Three New Square ‘Tim is very thoughtful and provides plenty of good ideas and solutions.’
The members of Three New Square are sought after for their skills in complex patent disputes, in addition to cases involving copyright, passing off, trade marks, and design rights. Guy Burkill KC focuses on patent litigation in the technology and telecoms sectors – he represented Apple and its distributors in a high-value telecoms-related patent dispute involving eight patents in four patent families against Optis, which claimed that Apple was using its technology without an appropriate license. Douglas Campbell KC‘s practice encompasses both patent and non-patent work, and Thomas Hinchliffe KC has expertise in the pharmaceutical and electronics sectors. Tim Austen regularly appears before the Patents Court, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, and the Court of Appeal – he was also instructed by Match Group in successful trade mark infringement and passing off proceedings against Muzmatch, a Muslim dating app that claimed it had a defence of honest concurrent to be able to use the term ‘match’ in its branding. Charles Brabin is skilled in patent work regarding electronics, as is Joe Delaney.