JUVE Comment

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 patent courts, the practice has returned to prominence with its lead role representing Tesla against Avanci and InterDigital in a significant FRAND dispute. Chinese telecommunications company ZTE has also chosen Powell Gilbert as its representative. The firm’s resilience during the quieter period is unsurprising, given its partners’ continued excellent reputation in SEP and FRAND cases.

Partners such as the renowned life sciences litigator Penny Gilbert underpin the firm’s stellar reputation. Powell Gilbert’s undisputed position at the pinnacle of the UK market also stems from its ability to consistently elevate younger partners to prominent roles in litigation, ensuring a smooth generational change. In 2023, name partner Tim Powell withdrew from the partnership and is now at Morgan Lewis. Partners from the next generation, including Tess Waldron and Siddharth Kusumakar, had already taken over the lead for key clients such as Edwards Lifesciences.

European set-up

The Powell Gilbert team’s role at the UPC has surprised many observers. From the court’s inception, the London IP boutique quickly established itself as one of the most sought-after practices for UPC litigation. This strong performance aligns with the practice’s long-established role coordinating pan-European cases. In terms of strategy, Powell Gilbert offers an alternative to internationally integrated law firms such as Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing. The firm demonstrates it is not only practices situated at the heart of the UPC, such as Bardehle Pagenberg or Kather Augenstein, that can win client trust for UPC proceedings. With the court’s launch, Powell Gilbert has distinguished itself clearly from other UK firms and further strengthened its position as a coordinating practice for its international core client base.

Strengths

Outstanding international reputation for litigation with a deep bench of lawyers. Lawyers at the forefront of developments in pharma and medical devices.

Recommended individuals

Zoë Butler, Peter Damerell (“highly experienced and circumspect”, competitor), Penny Gilbert, Bethan Hopewell, Siddharth Kusumakar (“outstanding work”, competitor), Ari Laakkonen (“creative and dedicated”, competitor), Tim Whitfield, Alex Wilson, Tess Waldron (“up-and-coming and excellent”, competitors)

Team

46 lawyers, 3 patent attorneys

Clients

Litigation: BioNTech against CureVac and Moderna over mRNA patents; Edwards Lifesciences against Meril Life Sciences over transcatheter heart valves; Samsung Bioepis against Regeneron and Bayer over biosimilar for age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy; Tesla against Avanci and InterDigital and over 5G pool licence; ZTE against Samsung over telecommunication SEPs; Biogen against Sandoz and Polpharma over biosimilar of Biogen’s Tysabri; AIM Sport Vision against Supponor over electronic perimeter advertising in sports stadiums; DSM against Mara Renewables over microbial omega 3 oil products.