Nick Smee
Partner
Birmingham
nick.smee@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)330 045 2122
Nick is a partner specialising in intellectual property. He has first-rate experience, leading on major projects for the likes of Aston Martin, Marston’s, AstraZeneca and GKN, and litigation before the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. This includes significant in-house experience through secondments at Mondelez International, Williams F1 and Lotus and delivering Browne Jacobson’s unique ‘instant in-house’ offering to clients such as GKN and Ocean Technologies. As a result, his IP expertise is recognised in the market - ranked as a Rising Star in several directories including Legal 500 and Managing Intellectual Property Magazine.
Nick has a diverse skillset in both transactional and contentious matters. He has supported businesses throughout his career on technical innovation, R&D, FTO and large-scale transactions such as grant-funded collaborations and international licence deals. At the same time, he delivers strategic brands and reputation management advice and has acted on high value trade mark and patent litigation in the UK courts.
Nick is actively engaged on the sustainability agenda and leads the firm’s cleantech sector activity. He has worked closely with the Midlands Engine on its Green Growth Conversation and developing the Midlands Engine Green Growth Action plan. He has a diploma in Intellectual Property Law from Oxford University, a Certificate in IP Transactions from UCL, and has written various press reports and feature articles for publications such as MIP, Lexis PSL, WIPR and the CITMA Review.
Expertise
Featured experience
Clean Power Hydrogen (CPH2)
High-profile international deals to develop, demonstrate and license ground-breaking, patented electrolyser technology for pure hydrogen production.
Ocean Technologies Group
Leading wide-ranging legal retainer for global learning and operational technologies company, Ocean, including advice on key business policies, end user license agreements, agreements with content providers, strategic collaborations and online brand enforcement.
King’s College London
Disputes concerning copyright, trade marks and defamation, and advising on a number of business-critical projects with key partners.
Mace
Managing and enforcing Mace Group’s global trade mark portfolio and advising on IP protection and commercialisation of new innovative building techniques.
Testimonials
"Nick provided invaluable assistance throughout the case. He is fun to work with, has a calm, considered approach but always fights hard on your behalf."
"I also want to thank Nick Smee and the Browne Jacobson team for the fantastic commercial and transparent advice they gave on this deal. The team went the extra mile in helping this deal over the line, operating within incredibly challenging timescales - amazingly competent and extremely easy to work with."
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