JUVE Comment

The KC and junior barristers of 8 New Square continue to operate at the top of the market. Many are highly visible in various actions in the UK patent courts, including multiple telecommunications cases which have made headlines. This includes Lenovo vs InterDigital, Panansonic vs Oppo, and Lenovo vs Ericsson, as well as the ongoing dispute between Optis and Apple. Here, the market-leading set’s highly skilled individuals continue to make their mark. As always, most of the UK’s patent cases feature at least one 8 New Square barrister on either side – and even occasionally both. No other set boasts so many market-leading barristers, including Daniel Alexander, Isabel Jamal, Andrew Lykiardopoulos, Charlotte May and Adrian Speck.

Recommended individuals

James Abrahams (“the king of mobile phone cases”, competitor), Daniel Alexander (“hardworking, responsive and client-focused, very high quality advice”, competitor), Mark Chacksfield, Michael Conway (“very good junior barrister”, competitor), William Duncan (“excellent junior barrister, good in life sciences”, competitor), Edmund Eustace, Isabel Jamal (“excellent, personable, responsive”, “simply a star”, competitors), Lindsay Lane, Andrew Lykiardopoulos (“fabulous for tech disputes”, “listens to the views and ideas of the team and distils them down into winning arguments, whether the hearing is patent-related, FRAND, jurisdiction or something else”, competitors), Charlotte May (“her attention to detail and authoritative advocacy really impresses”, competitor), Tom Moody-Stuart, Adrian Speck (“formidable KC who is currently the best for tech cases”, competitor), Michael Tappin (“outstanding life sciences barrister across all kinds of technology from small molecules to antibodies to diagnostics”, “excellent with detail across the board in different technologies”, competitors), James Whyte, (“very good on the technical side”, competitor), Justin Turner (“very good in life sciences”, competitor)

Team

12 KCs, 19 juniors

Clients

Court of Appeal: Ericsson (Michael Tappin, Edmund Eustace) against Lenovo (Andrew Lykiardopoulos) over SEP portfolio licence; Xiaomi (Daniel Alexander) against Panasonic (Isabel Jamal) over SEP portfolio licence; Nokia Alcatel (Tom Moody-Stuart, Edmund Eustace) against Amazon over SEP portfolio licence; InterDigital (Maxwell Keay) against Tesla over FRAND rate for a pool licence; InterDigital (Adrian Speck, Mark Chacksfield, Thomas Jones) against Lenovo (Daniel Alexander) over FRAND licence rate (ended 2024); Optis (Lindsay Lane) against Apple (James Abrahams, James Whyte, Michael Conway, Thomas Hinchliffe) over SEP/FRAND licence; Sandoz, Stada, Teva Cipla and Generics Ltd (Adrian Speck, Henry Ward, Michael Conway) against Bayer over anticoagulant Xarelto; Aim Sport (Daniel Alexander) against Supponor over advertising billboards; Advanced Bionics (Andrew Lykiardopoulos) against MED-EL (Adrian Speck) over cochlear implants. High Court: R2 Semiconductor (Edmund Eustace) against Intel (Andrew Lykiardopoulos) over computer power supplies; Ericsson (Thomas Jones, Edmund Eustace) against Lenovo over SEP portfolio licence; InterDigital (Maxwell Keay) against Tesla over FRAND rate for a pool licence; Oppo (Andrew Lykiardopoulos, William Duncan) against Panasonic (Isabel Jamal) over SEP portfolio licence; Pfizer (Andrew Lykiardopoulos, Henry Ward, Thomas Jones) against uniQure regarding haemophilia gene therapy drug; Sandoz and Accord (Justin Turner) against Astellas over prostate cancer drug Xtandi; BioNTech (Michael Tappin, Michael Conway) against CureVac over mRNA patents; Abbott (Isabel Jamal, Daniel Alexander, James Abrahams, Michael Conway, James Whyte, Jennifer Dixon) against Dexcom over glucose-monitoring devices.