DLA Piper Ireland LLP is geared to support domestic and international clients on large IP mandates with cross-border elements, with particular strength in patent and SPC-related matters and IP-related transactions. Gavin Woods specialises in contentious IP, as does Aoife Murphy, who leads this part of the practice with expertise in high-profile patent cases. Co-head Mark Rasdale is a strong choice for IP advisory work and transactions, as is John Magee. Conor McEneaney is another key name to note.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team is exceptionally deep in knowledge, resources and experience.’
- ‘Aoife Murphy is probably the leading patent and SPC practitioner in Ireland, and greatly respected by the judiciary. She can draw on great resources at DLA Piper. She is enormously experienced and has a very good ability to predict outcomes.’
- ‘Hugely committed, hard-working, and responsive.’
- ‘Aoife Murphy is a delight to work with. She is very knowledgeable and experienced, and she is totally across the details of a case.’
- ‘Solid team providing super litigation support in IP in Ireland.’
- ‘Aoife Murphy is skilled, proactive, determined and a pleasure to work with. She is very collaborative.’
- ‘DLA Piper is very proactive and experienced in the area of pharmaceutical patents and regulatory protection and how these patents operate in the Irish market.’
- ‘Aoife Murphy is an excellent lawyer - experience and commercially minded. She understands both the law and the business market very well and uses this to provide commercially sound legal advice.’
Key clients
- BioNTech manufacturing GmbH
- Janssen Biotech Inc
- J&J
- Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
- Novartis AG
- Resmed
- Dexcom
- Dr Seuss Enterprises LP
- Amnesty International
- KPMG
- Premier League
- HoneyWell
- McDonalds
- Eurofins Biomnis Ireland Limited
- Nordic Unmanned AS
- Medtronic
Work highlights
Acting for Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC (MSD) on the Irish side of a multi-jurisdictional trade mark, passing off and contract dispute relating to use of "Merck".
Acting for MSD in the referral from the Irish Court to the CJEU in a Patent/SPC matter with resulted in a decision for the CJEU in December 2024 on the correct interpretation and application of Articles 3(a) and 3(c) of the SPC Regulation.
Acting for BioNTech on the Irish side of a patent dispute with Moderna relating to alleged infringement of two European Patents by Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine sold under the Comirnaty brand (mRNA technology).
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Aoife Murphy
Practice head
Mark Rasdale; Aoife Murphy
Other key lawyers
John Magee; Gavin Woods; Conor McEneaney