11 South Square is highly regarded in the intellectual property arena, with an excellent reputation as ‘the home of many of the go-to barristers for complex patent cases’. Michael Silverleaf KC brings over three decades of experience in the IP space, and Iain Purvis KC is well known for his expertise in advising on pharmaceutical patents. Piers Acland KC successfully appeared for Moderna before the Court of Appeal in a high-profile patent dispute against Pfizer and BioNTech, arising from alleged infringement issues concerning the Covid-19 vaccine. Among the juniors, Adam Gamsa is well versed in handling patent litigation in the medical devices, pharmaceutical, telecoms and IT sectors. Kathryn Pickard KC was elevated to silk in March 2025.
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Position

Barrister specialising in intellectual property. Recent notable cases include:

Abbott Laboratories Limited v Dexcom Incorporated [2021] EWHC 2246 (Pat) - (application for expedition of patent revocation proceedings)

Philip Morris Products SA & anr v RAI Strategic Holdings [2021] EWHC 537 (Pat) & anr - (patents directed to ‘heat-not-burn’ tobacco technology)

Illumina Cambridge Ltd v Latvia MGI Tech SIA & Ors [2021] EWHC 57 (Pat) - (patent action concerning DNA sequencing technology)

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation & Anor v Meril GmbH & Anor [2020] EWHC 2562 (Pat) - (patent action concerning transcatheter heart valves)

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals v Kymab [2020] UKSC 27 - (Supreme Court)

Akebia Therapeutics Inc v Fibrogen, Inc & Astellas [2020] EWHC 866 (Pat) - (multi-patent action concerning the use of an enzyme inhibitor)

TQ Delta, LLC v ZYXEL Communications Ltd & Anor [2019] EWHC 562 - (Digital Subscriber Line patents)

Jushi Group Co Ltd v OCV Intellectual Capital LLC [2018] EWCA Civ 1416 - (Appeal)

Victoria Plum Ltd (t/a Victoria Plumb) v Victorian Plumbing Ltd & Ors [2016] EWHC 2911 (Ch) (Trade mark infringement)

Nicocigs Limited v Fontem Holdings Limited [2016] EWHC 2161 - (Patent for e-cigarettes)

Comic Enterprise Limited v Twentieth Century Fox Corporation [2016] EWCA Civ 41 and [2016] EWCA Civ 455 (passing off) (Court of Appeal)

American Science & Engineering Inc v Rapiscan Systems Ltd [2016] EWHC 756 (Pat) (patent infringement) (patents court)

Cadbury UK Limited v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2016] EWHC 796 (Ch) (trade mark) (Appeal to High Court)

Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors [2016] EWHC 576 (Pat) Trial C (mobile telephone patents) (High Court)

Accord Healthcare Ltd v Astellas Pharma GmbH [2015] EWHC 3676 (Ch) (Articles 6, 8 and 10 of Directive 2001/83/EC on medicinal products for human use) (High Court)

Starbucks (HK) Limited & Anr v British Sky Broadcasting Group plc & Ors [2015] UKSC 31 (trade marks, passing off) (Supreme Court)

IPCom v HTC & ors [2015] EWHC 1034 (Pat) (mobile telephone patents) (High Court)

Fresh Trading Ltd v Deepend Fresh Recovery Ltd [2015] EWHC 52 (copyright of ‘Innocent’ logo) (High Court);

Servier v Apotex [2014] UKSC 55 (appeal about the ex turpi causa non oritur action principle) (Supreme Court);

Compact GTL Lt dv Velocys PLC [2014] EWHC 2951 (patent infringement) (Patents Court);

TDY v Pramet [2014] EWHC 565 (patent infringement metal cutting tool) (Patents Court)

ASSIA v BT (Patents for the management of DSL broadband) (Patents Court);

Société Des Produits Nestlé SA v Cadbury UK Ltd [2014] EWHC 16 (3d TRADE mark opposition) (High Court Appeal);

Boxing Brands v Sports Direct [2013] EWHC 16 (trade mark passing entitlement claim for QUEENSBERRY) (High Court);

Virgin Atlantic Airways v Zodiac Seats [2013] UKSC 46 (Patents Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court);

BSkyB v Microsoft [2013] EWHC 1826 (trade mark infringement and passing off SKYDRIVE) (High Court);

Stichting BDO v BDO Unibank Inc [2013] EWHC 418 (trade mark infringement BDO REMIT) (High Court);

Generics (UK) Ltd (t/a Mylan) v Novartis AG [2012] EWCA Civ 16263 (patent invalidity for treatment of symptoms of Alzheimers) (Court of Appeal);

Force India v 1Malaysia & ors (Formula1 racing car dispute regarding aerodynamic designs and breach of contract);

Future Publishing Ltd v Edge Interactive Media (regarding video game and magazine trade marks) (High Court and Court of Appeal);

High Court and subsequent appeal regarding the trade mark and logo dispute between Specsavers and ASDA in a recent marketing campaign;

Nokia v Ipcom (telecoms patent trial in April 2011 and appeal in March 2012);

Dyson v Vax (alleged infringement of community registered design for the DC02 cyclone cleaner);

Best buy v Worldwide Sales Corp [2010] EWHC 1666 (Ch) (trade mark threats)(High Court);

Fisher v Brooker [2009] UKHL 41 (copyright ownership) (House of Lords);

Kelly v GE Healthcare [2009] EWHC 181 (Pat) (Inventor compensation under Section 40 of the Patents Act) (Patents Court);

Whirlpool v Kenwood [[2009] EWCA Civ 753 (‘shape mark’ infringement) (Court of Appeal);

Hotel Cipriani v Cipriani (Grosvenor Street) [2010] EWCA Civ 110 (trade mark passing off) (Court of Appeal);

Wavecrest v Aerotel [2009] EWCA Civ 408 (patent revocation) (Court of Appeal);

El Du Pont v UKIP (extension to SPC) (Court of Appeal).

Career

Practising since 1986. Appointed QC 2006. Appointed Person hearing appeals from Intellectual Property Office decisions since 2009. Publications: many articles; co-author, ‘Working with Technology’, Sweet & Maxwell 2001. Selected to sit as a Civil Recorder in April 2011 as a Recorder in the High Court. Iain also sits as a Deputy Judge in the High Court and in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.

Education

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe; Clare College, Cambridge; St Edmund Hall, Oxford (BCL).

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Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The clerks at 11 South Square are brilliant. Sam Fullilove and Harry Eades cannot do enough to help, always thinking ahead to what might be useful on the day of a hearing, and are great people to work with.'
  • 'The clerks are responsive.'
  • 'Ashley Carr and Sam Fullilove are very good clerks. Very personable, easy to get along with and always happy to assist at short notice.'
  • 'The clerks are very friendly and deliver a good, prompt service.'
  • '11 South Square is a very strong set.'
  • '11 South Square is a great set of chambers. Plenty of talent in the set and a very good group of juniors.'
  • '11 South Square offer a solid roster of talent at all levels of seniority in respect of patent litigation.'
  • '11 South Square has excellent bench strength.'