We advise a broad range of clients in the pharma sector, ranging from University spin-outs and SMEs to some of the largest, multinational companies. We can assist clients through the various stages of the product life cycle including freedom to operate assessments and risk mitigation, patent validity and infringement actions, SPC disputes, inventorship and entitlement claims, as well as trademark and re-packaging issues. We also represent clients in disputes over the payment of royalties under patent licences, both in arbitration and litigation.
Our reputation for pharma patent litigation is second to none. We represent both claimants and defendants, understanding the available strategies from both perspectives, including in the context of the relevant regulatory frameworks for medicine approval.
Our work includes representing clients in high-stakes patent cases before the UK courts, whilst also pursuing parallel EPO opposition proceedings and multi-jurisdictional litigation. We are often called upon to devise and co-ordinate European strategies to support our client’s commercial objectives.
We have successfully represented clients in cases before all levels of the UK Courts, up to the Supreme Court, and on referrals to the European Court of Justice and the EFTA Court on SPC issues.
Many of our lawyers have degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, neuroscience and biological sciences – including at doctorate level – and our team includes a medically qualified doctor. As a result, we have unmatched technical expertise and industry knowledge, plus a genuine interest in the technologies at issue.
We have a wealth of experience in advising on patents protecting NCEs, pharmaceutical formulations, purification technologies, enantiomers and crystalline forms, combination therapies, medical uses and dosage regimens.