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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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
Blog Post: 16 December 2022
On 10 October 2022, the European Commission (EC) sent a Statement of Objections to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited and Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe BV (Teva). The EC has provisionally found that…
Publications: 07 December 2022
IP rights in football: Avoiding an own-goal
As the 2022 World Cup final approaches, we explore the importance of IP rights in the beautiful game, as well as some potential "fouls" that clubs, footballers and even fans need to avoid.
Blog Post: 27 October 2022
Non-binding opinion of the Enlarged Board of Appeal issued in the G 2/21 referral on "plausibility"
The Enlarged Board of Appeal (“EBA”) issued on 13 October 2022 a non-binding communication in the framework of the G 2/21 referral in relation to plausibility and the use of post-published documents…
Blog Post: 25 October 2022
Arbitration in Life Sciences Disputes: a View from New York
Life science companies are increasingly turning to international arbitration as a preferred dispute-resolution mechanism due to its confidentiality, comparative cost-effectiveness, and nearly…
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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