Patents
Allen & Overy’s top tier patent litigation team acts for the world’s leading companies in the most complex patent disputes.
A&O acts in multi-jurisdictional and national patent disputes across a range of sectors, particularly specialising in life sciences and technology. We represent clients in the many different courts and tribunals worldwide, leveraging the full range of dispute resolution methods to deliver commercial outcomes for clients.
We advise on the most significant and complex cases, including advising on some of the first disputes examining Standard Essential Patents and FRAND terms. We have also advised on cases involving Supplementary Protection Certificates and Second Medical Use.
A firm technical understanding is crucial to success. Many of our team members have technical backgrounds and industry experience and can advise with confidence in cases involving the most complex technologies.
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Meet our lawyers
Our experience
Eli Lilly
in the defence of its patent on Cialis for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Samsung
in its French litigation adverse to Technicolor’s licensing arm on patents concerning 4G, video coding, and various smartphone features.
A multinational pharmaceutical company
in the complex enforcement of a patent relating to a valuable medicinal product. The patent covers the second medical use of a known active substance and the proper interpretation of patent claims is crucial to managing this litigation in Poland.
News and insights
Publications: 14 March 2024
Infringing gin part II: Court of Appeal victory for M&S against Aldi’s copycat design
Designers and brand owners will be comforted by Marks & Spencer’s Court of Appeal victory. It reinforces the importance of registering designs to protect against copycat products and, as the first…
Publications: 06 March 2024
Shifting Strategies in U.S. Intellectual Property Disputes: Lessons from 2023
For Taiwanese corporates developing critical technologies in the face of shifting global supply chains, the need to protect intellectual property assets has never been more pressing. The biggest…
Publications: 05 March 2024
Changes in the global patent litigation landscape: The impact of the UPC
The global patent landscape shifted very significantly in June last year, with the opening of the long-awaited European Unified Patent Court (the UPC). This single, one-stop judicial framework…
Publications: 26 February 2024
No patents, no problem: how Formula 1 technology races ahead without patent protection
As arguably the most technologically advanced sport in the world, where cutting-edge R&D is critical to achieving results on the track, it would be reasonable to assume that patents play a pivotal…
Awards and accolades
- Winner: IP Firm of the Year: Biologics/Biosimilars and IP Firm of the Year: Biotech, LMG European Life Sciences Awards 2020
- Winner: European Patent Litigation Firm of the Year, MIP EMEA Awards 2019
Recognition of our work
'It was a stellar team performance and we benefited from the pure value contributed,' a source reports, adding: 'There were no inefficiencies, it was seamless.
Chambers 2020 Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation
Allen & Overy remains a bellwether on the UK patent litigation market. Its all-star group ‘benefits from exceptional support provided by the wide full-service international firm’, and has been going from strength to strength of late.
IAM Patent 1000 2020
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