Peter heads up Powell Gilbert’s Dublin office. He practices mainly before the Unified Patent Court and the English Courts, and he has appeared regularly as an advocate.

Peter has experience of all major areas of intellectual property litigation including patents, FRAND, licensing, copyright, database rights, trade marks, passing off, confidential information and plant breeder’s rights. He has practiced before the Australian, English and Irish courts and the UPC, as well as before mediators and arbitral tribunals, and has extensive experience in European Patent Office matters.

Peter has substantial experience in co-ordination of cross-border litigation, and has a particular interest in choice of law/conflicts of laws, jurisdiction, anti-suit relief, foreign law and international judicial assistance disputes.

Before becoming a lawyer Peter worked for 15 years in the information technology industry as a software developer/architect. Peter has a focus on IT/electronics disputes but has been involved in litigation across various industry sectors ranging from medical devices and pharmaceuticals to synthetic grass.

Peter joined Powell Gilbert in 2018 and became a partner of Powell Gilbert (Europe) LLP in 2024.

Key Cases

• GSK v BioNTech & Pfizer (SARS-CoV2 vaccine, UPC, Irish High Court, English Patents Court)
• LCIA arbitration against a listed biopharmaceutical company over payment obligations in respect of sublicensing revenue.
• Nadorcott v ASDA (plant breeder’s rights)
• City Glass v Maars (UPC glazing)
• Bhagat v Oerlikon (UPC textile machinery)
• Various applications under the UK Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975  (judicial assistance, Hague evidence convention)
• Nadorcott v Sainsbury’s (plant breeder’s rights)
• Moderna v BioNTech and Pfizer (patent pledge)
• Biogen v Sandoz / Polpharma, and others (biologic drugs and immunoassays)
• Philip Morris v Nicoventures (heat-not-burn tobacco)
• Ocado v AutoStore (UPC robotics)
• Shenzen Carku v NOCO (car jump starters)
• Royalty Pharma v Boehringer Ingelheim (royalty dispute – DPP-IV inhibitors)
• Vestel v HEVC Advance & Philips (HEVC codec / FRAND licensing / jurisdiction)
• IPCom v Lenovo (telecommunications / FRAND licensing)
• Promptu v Sky and Comcast (voice recognition systems)
• Blue Power Group v Eni (contract, confidential information and database rights)
• Becton v B Braun, (IV catheter medical devices)
• FieldTurf v Tigerturf (synthetic turf)
• Abbott v Alphapharm (fenofibrate small molecule pharmaceutical)
• Optiver v Tibra (high frequency trading software copyright and confidential information)