Kathleen Fox Murphy

Silver - Individuals: litigation

Employing one of the country’s best mixed practices, the solicitors and attorneys of EIP work at the cutting edge. On the solicitor front, the firm has a well-earned reputation in the SEP and FRAND arena, garnered through its successful representation of Unwired Planet in the UK’s landmark SEP case. Gary Moss led the outfit’s effort in that case, and he continues to be a regular port of call for patrons seeking robust, sophisticated enforcement strategy. Moss is prized above all for the practical, big-picture approach he brings to every piece of advice. One recent matter was a claim of non-jurisdiction against a declaration of non-infringement levelled by Samsung against Solas OLED in the field of LED displays. Moss was supported in this case by Robert Lundie Smith, a dual qualified solicitor-barrister who also has a PhD in chemistry. Lundie Smith represents names in a range of technical fields and is a fierce and strategic advocate. He has advised Optis in its ongoing battle with Apple, as has Kathleen Fox Murphy. A major authority in the FRAND/SEP space, Fox Murphy is also instructed by IP Bridge in a dispute related to 4G technology with Huawei, set for trial in early 2023. Alongside her expertise in the telecoms arena, Fox Murphy also advises pharmaceutical companies on aspects of competition law as it relates to their patent portfolios. Not just legally and strategically sharp, the solicitor team at EIP is also technically adept and includes dual-qualified attorney-solicitors like Andrew Sharples. Another life sciences specialist, Sharples’ technical and legal qualifications enhance EIP’s already well-stacked litigation deck. The firm has recently augmented its non-contentious offering with the acquisition of Mark Lubbock, a leader in the patent transactional space, from Brown Rudnick. Lubbock has extensive experience advising companies on their most pivotal transactions with a significant IP component, and his eye for commercial potential is unrivalled. EIP is also positioning itself strategically to become competitive at the UPC through a partnership with French patent firm Amar Goussu Staub, bringing the outfit a deep bench that now extends across the United Kingdom, Sweden, France and Germany. In Britain, it also boasts a raft of top-notch patent attorneys of its own. One of its founders, Jerome Spaargaren has 30 years’ experience; he heads the ensemble’s digital practice group and takes on a wide range of technologies. His lengthy experience in the patent world makes him particularly well placed to advise on strategic implications and the enforcement landscape. With in-house experience in the IP division of a major telecoms company, Heather McCann is another technically adept and commercially minded operator on the team’s roster. From Silicon Valley tech companies to start-ups, McCann offers rigorous and strategic patent advice. A major patron is VISA, for which she delivers patent filing and prosecution strategy at the EPO. She also acts for the software companies ServiceNow and Egress Software, a company which focuses on secure file-sharing systems and reducing business risk from email phishing. Joining her on work for ServiceNow is Matt Lawman, who joined EIP in 2005 after a long career in-house for a range of tech companies, including BT and Hewlett-Packard. Lawman’s unrivalled commercial acumen and vast technical expertise are best exemplified in his strategic portfolio development and commercialisation advice for the highly complex post-quantum cryptography spin-out PQShield. Engineer Richard Gordon-Brown also boasts deep technical insight and knows how to see things from a client’s point of view. Gordon-Brown advises AP Moller-Maersk on new patent filings relating to advanced refrigeration systems, line handling systems, shipping container structures and future propulsion systems. He also takes up work for the Maersk-owned APM Terminals BV, a major port-operating company, alongside Darren Smyth. “Darren is a wonderful lawyer. His detail-oriented approach and comprehensive, practical and business-centric counsel are highly recommended.” Another of Gordon-Brown’s clients is Pulpex, which makes sustainable packaging from paper pulp, and the multinational aerospace giant Airbus, whom he supports alongside Lawman and Laurence Brown. An electrical and information sciences engineer, Brown has been helping his clientele obtain and secure commercially valuable intellectual assets for more than 20 years. Astute, technically adept and business savvy, Brown leads the team for consumer electronics company Sonos, for whom EIP has secured 388 patents with 117 pending. Another big project Brown is taking on is comprehensive portfolio strategy and development for holographic display innovator VividQ, which holds 15 patent families. For oppositions at the EPO, patrons are in very good hands with Gareth Probert and Monika Rai. Probert is the head of healthtech and a former organic chemist. Clients in industries ranging from food and fragrance chemistry to biotech and life sciences are well represented, thanks to his tenacious advocacy skills. Rai is a life sciences specialist and has represented some of the best-known names in the pharmaceutical world before the EPO. Joining the list this year is Chris Price, who has more than 15 years’ experience dealing with mechanical and electronic patents. A fluent Japanese speaker, Price is a major asset for tech players based in Japan – he can conduct Japanese language prior art searches and prosecute Japanese applications. His technical fluency in the language can be traced to his time spent working with vehicle manufacturer Nissin Showa.