JUVE Comment

As a chancery set covering media, IT law and commercial law, with an especially strong presence in broad IP disputes, Hogarth Chambers’ barristers have a wide range of specialities. Now, within an intellectual property department historically driven by soft IP matters, its patent department is growing more visible by the year.

Its wide-ranging expertise means the set’s KCs and juniors have been involved in numerous types of disputes at the High Court, including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and mechanical patents, such as for Carku over car batteries, and Geofabrics over trackbed liners. The firm’s expertise converges, however, in its work in the medical devices sector for Advanced Bionics in the dispute with MED-EL. With more upcoming litigation set to take place in this sector, the set could be well-positioned to work alongside barristers from other sets and provide expertise in this area.

Compared to competitors such as 11 South Square, the set is slightly less visible in major FRAND or telecommunications disputes, although it has recently stepped up in this area. Here the stand-out among Hogarth’s patent practitioners is undoubtedly Edward Cronan. Despite being a junior barrister who joined the set just four years ago, he has been in all but two of the set’s appearances in the High Court in the past twelve months – including for multiple telecommunication clients. One client praises him as “very good for complex topics”. For example, he has appeared for Nokia in litigation against Oppo/OnePlus, as well as for SOLiD Technologies against CommScope. In the latter case, Cronan works on the defendant side opposite Hogarth junior barrister Benjamin Longstaff for the claimant.

Even in an area of the industry not especially renowned for its diversity, however, Hogarth Chambers still has some way to go. None of its patent-specialist silks are women; until 2021, the set had only one female senior junior barrister. This has recently changed with the addition of a new female junior, although a lack of diversity is a trend replicated across the set’s practice areas. On the other hand, the set is involved in an initiative designed to make the Bar and chambers more accessible to a wider demographic, including appointing two equality and diversity officers.

Recommended individuals

Michael Hicks, Roger Wyand, Richard Davis (“excellent understanding in electronics patent cases”, competitor), Edward Cronan (“very good for complex topics”, competitor), Sam Carter (“excellent junior”, competitor)

Team

2 KCs, 12 juniors

Clients

High Court: Sisvel as third party (Edward Cronan) in dispute between Optis and Apple over FRAND and mobile communication technology; Nokia (claimant, Edward Cronan) against Oppo/OnePlus over mobile communication technology; CommScope (claimant, Benjamin Longstaffagainst SOLiD Technologies (defendant, Edward Cronan) over distributed antenna systems; Teva (defendant, Edward Cronan) against Neurim and Flynn over insomnia medication; Carku (claimant, Edward Cronan)against Noco over car batteries; Advanced Bionics (claimant, Edward Cronan) against Med-El (defendant, Benjamin Longstaff) over cochlear implants; Astellas (defendant, Roger Wyand) against Teva/Sandoz over overactive bladder treatment; 3M Innovative Properties (defendant, Michael Hicks, Nick Zweck) against Saint-Gobain over industrial sandpaper; Geofabrics (claimant, Michael Hicks) against Fiberweb Geosynthetics over trackbed liners.