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Gold - Firms: prosecution
“Kilburn & Strode is a one-stop shop for reliable advice on IP-related matters. The firm’s attorneys have a great understanding of complex technologies and provide excellent counsel for obtaining broad protection in an expedient manner. Furthermore, they are responsive, a pleasure to work with and always willing to take a call or answer some esoteric question of law. They are consistent across the board and very much serve as extensions of in-house teams.” Managing partner Richard Howson maintains a busy tech practice, drawing on over 20 years’ experience in the patent profession to keep his clients in the aerospace, automotive, and mechanical and electrical engineering sectors coming back. Under his leadership, the patent prosecution offering includes a life sciences and chemistry group, headed by Nick Lee, and the tech team under Gareth Fennell. Patrons write: “Gareth provides valuable and insightful advice on IP strategy and legal counselling on all IP-related documents. He is enthusiastic about technological innovation and an absolute pleasure to work with. He combines expertise and experience with the ability to understand the requirements and constraints of his clients. Gareth and the Kilburn & Strode team deserve the highest recommendation.” Other leading practitioners on the tech and engineering side include Tom Hamer, Alexander Korenberg, Gwilym Roberts and Jeremy Smith. “Tom is highly knowledgeable about EP and UK law, and the medical device technology field, including still-evolving questions about artificial intelligence (AI) in imaging, treatment planning, and other aspects of radiation oncology. He is a highly skilled and competent portfolio manager. Tom is a go-to provider for patent services.” Korenberg’s technical prowess extends from AI through life science devices, and he regularly works at the intersection of these areas. For instance, he has supported work for Sensyne Health Group, a UK-based clinical artificial intelligence company that uses data for the purposes of medical research. “Gwilym is a lawyer of choice for all IP matters in Europe, mostly patent, but also some trademark and unfair competition. His knowledge of patent law and his patent prosecution skills are second to none, but what truly sets Gwilym apart is his understanding of patrons’ businesses and the level of customer service that he provides. Gwilym is a true partner and friend to his clientele – as pleasant over a patent application as he is over a drink.” Smith has an ear for delivering patent applications at the perfect pitch. “He has a good pulse for meaningfully assessing subject-matter eligibility in Europe. He has no problem managing a vast docket of pending applications. He gets things right quickly and efficiently. The quality and timeliness of Jeremy’s work is top notch.” Newly promoted partner Caelia Bryn-Jacobsen has 25 years’ experience in the patent profession. A physics and tech expert with a strong reputation at the EPO, she deftly manages portfolios for femcare innovator Daye Limited, e-commerce disrupter Ubamarket, and supports the team for LG Display. Her contentious expertise was on display in her deflection of an EPO opposition launched by EOS GmbH against aerospace giant Boeing. On the chemical and life sciences side, Lee brings over three decades’ experience to his supervision of the practice, personally taking on work in biotech and medical devices. He is an astute operator in the field of immunology, especially the T-cell sphere. He acted for an anonymous entity to revoke Cellectis’s patent relating to CAR T cells for allogeneic transplantation. Lee is joined on the life sciences and chemistry team by Nick Bassil, Jo Bradley, Elizabeth Crooks, Jennifer Harris and Tom Leonard. Bassil is a major pharmaceutical heavy-hitter, delivering top-notch patent work in the life science and chemistry field for 30 years. In the past year he has been active seeking an SPC for Melinta Therapeutics, as well as offering due diligence to Oxford Biomedica as it creates US subsidiary Oxford Biomedica Solutions. “Jo’s filing, prosecution and strategic advice is consistently excellent. Her ability to understand a university’s patent-related drivers is impressive. Jo also has an enviable ability to work with a range of leading academics. Her support is always timely and incisive.” Crooks boasts vast technical expertise in the chemical field, from industrial through consumer applications. Alongside her easy familiarity with drafting in that sphere, Crooks is also an accomplished hand at EPO oppositions and took on 12 hearings over 2021. Names she has represented there include Honeywell, Ball Corporation and AdvanSix Resins & Chemicals. “Jennifer delivers clear and reliable advice. Discussions with her invariably add value and often lead to an improved strategy. Jennifer shows particular strength in delivering comprehensive patent strategies to ensure across-the-border protection. She has a keen tactical eye.” “Tom is a superb attorney and his attention to detail is second to none. He is always available day and night and is a technical expert. Tom is first-class in the biopharm space, extremely diligent and very hardworking. He is also friendly, emotionally intelligent and highly considerate of others.”
Kilburn & Strode is a top-tier European IP firm that protects value for some of the world’s most innovative organisations.
For more than 100 years, the firm has been trusted to provide strategic IP advice and navigate the complex world of intellectual property for an impressive roster of clients of all sizes, including leading brands and some of the world’s most impressive innovators.
The firm has its headquarters in London, with further offices in Hilversum, Eindhoven, Rotterdam, The Hague and Munich. Having a presence in mainland Europe ensures that the firm’s attorneys can provide a seamless European service to clients, both within the region and worldwide. Domestic and international clients truly look to them as their strategic advisers.
Kilburn & Strode is the first European patent and trademark attorney firm with attorneys registered as foreign legal consultants with the State Bar of California, making Kilburn & Strode the only firm of its kind to permanently deliver European IP services to local clients in their time zone. The firm’s liaison office in San Francisco is set up to service clients in Silicon Valley and beyond.
The life sciences and chemistry practice group works with a diverse range of clients, from spin-outs to multinationals. As a practice, it manages portfolios covering nearly 100 countries, handles cases involving some of the most valuable drugs, and integrates with multinational chemical giants, whose innovative technologies are contributing to saving the environment.
The firm’s tech group is ahead of the pulse of the times and so are its experts in areas such as semiconductors, healthcare technology, AI and quantum computing, to name but a few. The tech group’s reputation has led it to handle some of the most valuable patent portfolios in the world. The group’s experts understand commercial strategies including licensing and litigation, and have a track record for obtaining some of the most difficult patents, particularly on the borderline of patent eligibility.
The engineering group’s technical capabilities are almost without limit: from luxury automobiles to oil and gas, through to the most advanced rocket engines, their service offering includes obtaining patent and design protection both in Europe and further afield, advising on freedom to operate and handling contentious proceedings including oppositions before the EPO and inter partes proceedings in court or the Intellectual Property Office.
Whether obtaining protection, clearing the path or defending key technologies, Kilburn & Strode offers a unique combination of experience, technical expertise and, most importantly, an approach that makes it a true extension of its clients’ teams. It has technical, legal and commercial nous second to none, combined with an attitude that makes working together easy. Many firms will have competent patent attorneys, but Kilburn & Strode distinguishes itself by a complete focus on building deep relationships.
Home to 100+ multi-talented patent and trademark attorneys, the ‘mighty prosecution shop’ Kilburn & Strode continues to expand, adding five partners in the past year and investing further in its growing Dutch presence.
Superior technical ability and client care are hallmarks of Kilburn & Strode’s service which are regularly commended on by its clients. As one of them put it:
“It [the firm] has an understanding of the commercial aims, a complete grasp of the relevant patent law and a creative flair for seeing where opportunities lie.”
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