Litigation: Solicitors – UK 2025

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Bristows remains a top choice for clients pursuing patent litigation in UK courts, particularly in life sciences disputes. Bristows' lawyers were also involved in the UK proceedings of significant global SEP disputes for Panasonic and Philips. However, because the firm has not played quite as central a role in battles over interim portfolio licences as Kirkland & Ellis, some observers suggest the firm has ceded ground to its US rival as well as its fellow traditional UK market leader Powell Gilbert.

The firm's patent practice rests on...

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Powell Gilbert continues to cement its position as one of the UK's market leaders. The firm stands out for its large partnership of internationally renowned practitioners, combining experienced partners with rising talent. Clients value the team not only for UK proceedings but regularly instruct it to coordinate pan-European and UPC litigation. The firm's expertise spans life sciences, medical devices, electronics, and communications technology.

After a period of reduced visibility in high-stakes mobile communications cases at the UK ...

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Bird & Bird maintains its position among London's market leaders with an excellent, broad and substantial team that commands client trust across numerous technological fields. A highlight is the firm's representation of regular clients Nokia and Alcatel Lucent against Amazon concerning multimedia streaming and video codecs. This case attracts public attention not only due to its scale and everyday relevance but also for its symbolic importance in demonstrating how European companies can effectively challenge US internet giants in interna...

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A&O Shearman's London office represents an impressive roster of pharmaceutical originators, including Eli Lilly, and demonstrates particular experience in biosimilars litigation. A highlight is the representation of Regeneron and Bayer concerning the biological drug Eylea for vision loss.

The London team further bolstered its life sciences practice in February 2024 by recruiting Gemma Barrett from Bristows, who brings significant sector experience. She supports the team led by Marjan Noor in representing long-standing clients Regenero...

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Hogan Lovells' UK team continues to close the gap with the City's market leaders. A highlight is defending Amazon against Nokia and Alcatel Lucent's claims concerning three implementation patents in the UK. The team brings extensive SEP dispute experience to these proceedings. This work also demonstrates the team's strength in international litigation, with parallel proceedings at the UPC and in the US, India, and Brazil.

The team's expertise in SEP and FRAND proceedings was further evidenced by its work for Oppo; it recently conclude...

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The London team of this international law firm has successfully transformed from its life sciences litigation roots through an ambitious growth strategy over the past three years. The strongly positioned litigation team now commands equal prominence in high-profile pharmaceutical and mobile communications cases, while also conducting litigation in medical devices, electronics, and mechanical engineering.

The arrival of James Marshall in autumn 2023 proved particularly significant, substantially raising the firm's profile in mobile com...

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The Freshfields team remains a top choice for prominent pharmaceutical companies engaged in London patent disputes. Well-known clients such as Moderna and Alexion place their trust in the established team led by Christopher Stothers. The practice is particularly active for long-standing client AstraZeneca and its subsidiaries.

Beyond its extensive pharmaceutical work, the team handles select cases across various technical fields. Its representation of SharkNinja in multiple proceedings stands out. However, tech clients of the continen...

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The solid London patent team at Anglo-Canadian firm Gowling continues to build its reputation as a go-to practice for high-profile patent litigation in the UK courts. The team, led by Alexandra Brodie, maintains its strong presence in SEP portfolio licence disputes. As in previous years, it has been one of the most active firms in the UK market alongside InterDigital. Its work for SEP holders led to a landmark UK Court of Appeal judgment in mid-2024 on FRAND-rate setting in the dispute with Lenovo. The firm also represents the client in a ca...

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Herbert Smith Freehills' well-positioned UK patent practice continues to successfully leverage its relationships with innovator pharmaceutical companies, ensuring a steady flow of work for its growing team of partners and associates. Young talented associate Emily Bottle, who works closely with partner Sebastian Moore on various blockbuster drug disputes, has been promoted to partnership. The London practice now has four partners.

Currently, the firm's lawyers rarely appear in UK courts, as no UK proceedings are pending in ongoing bat...

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Thanks to its high-profile clients in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, this mixed patent firm has experienced steady growth over the past year. The firm's substantial prosecution practice has long ranked among Europe's elite. Recently, the mixed teams have leveraged their strong visibility in EPO oppositions and impressive UPC debut to enhance their litigation profile in the UK market.

The litigation team's work for Pfizer against GSK concerning vaccines, both before the UK courts and at the UPC, has particularly impressed competi...

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• Patent Filing

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Following several staff changes in previous years, recent stability has allowed the well-positioned patent litigation team led by Campbell Forsyth and David Rose to focus fully on client work. The practice's flagship work remains advising generics manufacturers preparing to launch generic versions of blockbuster drugs. The team represented two generic drug manufacturers, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Zentiva, in the brief but high-profile battle over stroke medication Xarelto against Bayer. For Luye Pharma, the team litigated in another pharma...

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Osborne Clarke's UK patent practice has established itself as a rising force in the London market. The firm has made particular strides in life sciences and, through its representation of Amgen, demonstrates its capability of handling complex, high-volume biosimilar and pharmaceutical cases.

The team has earned even greater recognition for its expertise in SEP litigation, particularly concerning FRAND issues. A prime example is the practice's representation of Avanci in Tesla's challenge over its 5G pool licence.

The team has e...

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The well-positioned London team at US firm WilmerHale handles substantial litigation and enjoys strong relationships with its US clients. This is best exemplified by extensive proceedings for Apple against Optis in the UK, where renowned partner Anthony Trenton and rising star Annsley Ward draw on their considerable FRAND expertise. The firm represents Apple in parallel US proceedings, effectively leveraging its strong US-UK axis. This case has produced some of the UK's most significant FRAND and licensing rulings.

In life sciences, W...

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The well-positioned patent team of international full-service firm CMS Cameron McKenna operates with a technically broad set-up in the UK litigation market. A group around solicitor Caitlin Heard and patent attorneys Jane Evenson and Robert Stephen has emerged as the core team driving client development.

Microsoft is currently the firm's most important client, with partner Heard leading a case over cloud computing. The tech giant also provides steady prosecution work for the patent attorney team. This collaboration between litigators ...

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• Patent Filing

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The well-established patent practice at DLA Piper continues to attract litigation work from clients in mechanics and electronics. One example was the successful litigation for new client SafeStand regarding innovative building products. The dispute has since expanded, with additional cases filed at the UK High Court in 2025. For long-standing client Dyson, the London team played a key role in matters concerning electronics, albeit in a coordinating and advisory capacity rather than through litigation. In the global dispute with SharkNinja, t...

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Jones Day's patent litigation practice stands as a well-positioned team with the potential to mount a significant challenge on the London market. The team drew attention for pursuing an uncommon strategy of monetary compensation for key client Lufthansa against Astronics and Panasonic. The extensive hearing in this long-running complex dispute was led by Alastair McCulloch in the UK. The matter exemplifies the close cooperation between Jones Day's teams in Germany and France.

Jones Day's practice maintains a steady presence in mechani...

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Potter Clarkson, historically dominated by patent attorneys, now operates in the UK market with mixed teams and has established a respected patent litigation practice in London. The firm handles numerous midsized proceedings before the UK patent courts, demonstrating its broad technical expertise through cases such as Cloud Cycle's slump-monitoring technology dispute. Further examples include BattleKart Europe's electrical engineering case and the litigation for Trailerlogic concerning mortuary solutions. However, the litigation team has yet...

Other Rankings

• Patent Filing