The team at 11 South Square has a particular specialism in IP related IT disputes. Recent work across the team includes Brian Nicholson KC‘s acting for the appellant in Emotional Perception v Comptroller General of Patents which is set to take place at the Supreme Court in 2025, and regards the patentability of AI inventions, in this case of a neural network-based tool for recommending songs based on their emotional similarity others; the Court of Appeal decided the tool did not make the necessary technical contribution required to obtain patent protection. Mark Vanhegan KC is notably acting for the defendant in IBM v LzLabs GmbH, in which a company has been accused of stealing and copying trade secrets from the American tech giant claimant.
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Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.