Our team has a proven ability to grasp complex scientific issues and assess esoteric cutting edge technologies. In addition to technical infringement and validity advice relating to patents, we use our sector knowledge to deliver commercially relevant business advice to our diverse client base which includes: public authorities, universities, biotechs, medical device companies, originators, generic manufacturers and parallel distributors.
The broader Pinsent Masons Life Sciences team advise on the full range of intellectual property, transaction, commercial, regulatory, competition and compliance issues facing the industry.
We can help you:
- when you have concerns about market access: by providing freedom to operate opinions and strategic advice in relation to the validity of various intellectual property rights and infringement risks
- exploit your intellectual property rights: by negotiating and drafting licensing agreements, assignments of intellectual property assets and funding issues
- use your intellectual property rights to protect your investment in R&D: by advising on protection strategies and IP life cycle management
- when you have concerns about infringements: by enforcing your rights against infringers in the UK, Continental Europe and China. Our team regularly provides strategic enforcement advice to clients in this industry sector, and has extensive experience of multi-jurisdictional patent actions
Examples of our expertise include:
- advising on multinational patent litigation concerning Lundbeck's blockbuster anti-depressant, escitalopram, in an action which went all the way to the House of Lords.
- representing a pharmaceutical wholesaler in interim injunction proceedings in the Patents Court, relating to alleged infringement of a blockbuster product patent.
- advising parallel distributors on the application of the "specific mechanism" in the EU Treaty to importation of patent protected products.
- acting for the Department of Health on the transfer of the IP assets (including patents, other IP and actual key cell lines) of the BioProducts Laboratory division of NHS Blood and Transplant.
- acting for a UK Biotechnology company on a multinational patent licensing deal with anticipated revenues of over $300m.
- advising on various key transgenic patents of the Roslin Institute in relation to the Institute’s move to Edinburgh University.
As one of the few UK law firms with Life Sciences intellectual property specialists in China, we are uniquely placed to advise clients based in the region and those looking to invest there. Our alliance with Salans also gives us unprecedented expertise throughout mainland Europe, including in particular, CEE countries.
Examples of our Chinese expertise include:
- patent drafting, prosecution, re-examination, and invalidation - drafted and prosecuted patent applications in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, bioinformatics, chemistry, instrumentation, mechanics, and electronics for global protection of innovative technologies; represented clients in patent re-examination and invalidation proceedings
- patent litigation - represented clients in patent infringement cases relating to biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and electronics, a 337 investigation on batteries, and an arbitration involving ownership of patents
- patent transactions - evaluated patent portfolios for transactions; advised clients on patent licensing and alliance agreements and negotiations
- client counselling on patents - advised clients on patent and product development strategies; provided patentability, validity, infringement, and freedom-to-operate opinions
Credentials:
Our International Intellectual Property team is recognised by Chambers & Partners as being one of the best in the UK and China.
"They provide crystal-clear opinions and make complicated issues simple." [Chambers 2010]
"Clare Tunstall is recognised for her "outstanding reputation in representing generics manufacturers." She has also worked with pharmaceutical innovators, demonstrating her level of expertise in the field, and has been involved in numerous cross-border patent litigation cases." [IAM 250: The World's Leading Patent Litigators 2011]
Examples of recent work
- Warner-Lambert Company LLC v (1) Teva UK Ltd (2) Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd (3) AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd
- Warner-Lambert Co. LLC (Claimant/Part 20 Defendant) v (1) Teva UK Ltd (2) Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd (3) AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd (4) L Rowland & Co (Retail) Ltd (t/a Rowlands Pharmacy) (5) Barclay Pharmaceuticals Ltd (t/a Trident) (Defendants/Part 20 Claimants) (6) Asda Store Ltd (7) Day Lewis Plc (Intended Defendants)