press release
New additions for Browne Jacobson as intellectual property rights cases rise
9 September 2008
Midlands law firm Browne Jacobson has seen a
surge in the number of businesses taking action against other
companies over the infringement of intellectual property (IP)
rights. Over the last year alone the firm, which has offices in
Victoria Square, has seen its work in this specialised area
increase by over 50 per cent.
The firm, boasting one of the largest and most experienced
intellectual property teams outside London, ranked second only to
Wragge & Co in Birmingham by Chambers for the second year
running, has announced two new additions with the appointments of
Mark Daniels and Sara McNeill.
The two new IP experts join the Midlands-based team of 12, from
Wragge & Co where they have undertaken high profile work in the
IP sector. Mark Daniels joins the firm following eight years at
Wragge’s where he advised on many contentious IP cases including
the two recent widely reported patent cases between Nokia and
InterDigital concerning the essentiality of patents to mobile
telecommunications standards. Sara McNeill joins following seven
years at Wragge’s where her experience spans across various IP
matters with clients including the MoD, Aston Martin and Marks
& Spencer.
The new additions further strengthen the existing team and their
valuable ‘hands-on’ commercial experience (all of the team has
worked in-house with household names) that enables it to offer more
creative, business-based legal advice to its clients.
While much of the team’s work comes from UK companies,
businesses from as far afield as Denmark, Italy, Austria, the USA
and China also engage the Birmingham firm. Typically, the work
involves cases of litigation, for example where foreign importers
of goods are defending against claims or UK businesses are taking
competitors to court over alleged infringements of trademarks,
patents and designs.
Declan Cushley, who heads up the Commercial Group in the firm’s
Birmingham office, said:
“Despite the general downturn in the global economy,
companies are becoming increasingly aware of the need to protect
the investment that they have made in their intellectual property
assets.
“Another reason for the increase in work in this area is the
fact that many international businesses are looking for better
value for money from their advisers. As our reputation grows in
this specialist area of the law, more companies realise that firms
such as ours in the regions can provide a better service, at lower
cost than many of our city-based competitors.
“Over the past year, we have seen the level of international
work in this area of the law increase by 15 per cent. We now have a
strong international reputation for our advice on intellectual
property rights, patents, trademarks, disputes and copyright
issues.”
Cushley added:
“Our team is made up of some of the most experienced lawyers
in the field of intellectual property; but we’ve also got our feet
firmly on the ground and talk the language of business to our
clients. That’s one of the other reasons for our success in this
area. We are proud to welcome Mark and Sara to the team and look
forward to seeing them further enhance their career with
us.”
save to PDF