Osborne Clarke strengthens biotech practice with Marks & Clerk hire

Life sciences patent specialist Trevor Crosse (40) has today moved to full-service firm Osborne Clarke following twelve years at mixed IP firm, Marks & Clerk. Crosse, who becomes the sixth patent partner in Osborne Clarke’s London team, is set to help oversee the firm’s expansion into the biotech and pharma sectors.

Osborne Clarke is traditionally a strong performer in the telecoms space. For example, it achieved recognition in 2020 after acting as co-counsel alongside EIP for Unwired Planet against Huawei. The case, which went to the Supreme Court, is one of the most important regarding SEPs and FRAND licensing. On the other hand, Osborne Clarke is now looking to develop its reputation in life sciences.

Trevor Crosse bring pharma expertise

Upon joining Osborne Clarke, Crosse brings extensive experience working on litigation involving blockbuster patents for multiple global pharmaceutical companies. For example, he has worked for biotechnology companies and originator companies, including Genentech, Chugai and Pfizer. While at Marks & Clerk, he acted in invalidity proceedings on behalf of Pfizer against Regeneron and Teva concerning antibodies used in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Trevor Crosse also worked for AbbVie in defending blockbuster drug, Humira. This is used to treat a significant number of inflammation-based illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. He also acted for global pharmaceutical company Genentech on a number of cross-jurisdictional disputes.

Trevor Crosse

Journey to Osborne Clarke

Crosse began his career at IP boutique, Bristows, where in 2009 he qualified as a patent litigator. This was prior to a short stint at international commercial firm RPC, after which he spent over a decade at Marks & Clerk. The firm elevated him to partner in 2019.

At Osborne Clarke, Crosse joins another former Marks & Clerk alumni, Will James, who moved to the international firm as a partner back in 2019. In 2020, Osborne Clarke also expanded its IP disputes team with the addition of former Bird & Bird partner, Tim Harris.

Now, following the move of Trevor Crosse, the partner team at Osborne Clarke is six-person strong. He says, “Moving to Osborne Clarke offers a great opportunity for me to build on many years of life sciences patent litigation experience and further develop my practice in this area.

Growing the firm’s offering in the life sciences and healthcare sectors has been a key area of focus for Osborne Clarke. Recently, the team has only gone from strength to strength. My intention is that we will continue that growth by working on more big-ticket life sciences patent cases in the future.”

Marks & Clerk rebuilds

Mike Gilbert, partner at Marks & Clerk, says, “We are sorry to see Trevor go and wish him all the best for his future. However, we anticipate that his departure will have a minimal impact on our litigation practice. In August, we promoted four excellent associates to the position of managing associate, three of whom are patent litigators.

We have also recently promoted one of our paralegals to become an associate in our patent litigation team. We plan on building our team further.”

However, Marks & Clerk has recently lost several partners on both the patent litigator and patent attorney side. Last year, the firm lost Jo Bradley to Kilburn & Strode as the firm expands its presence in the chemistry and life sciences spaces. Partners and patent attorneys Stephen Blake and Douglas Rankin also left to set up new firm, Matter IP.

Marks & Clerk also saw two partners departing its Birmingham and Aberdeen practices. Similarly, one partner from Edinburgh retired and a Cambridge partner left Marks & Clerk for an unknown position. But the firm is looking to begin filling these gaps, both on the litigator and patent attorney side. It still retains four patent litigators in London, three of whom are biotech and life sciences specialists.