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
Publications: 25 August 2023
On 24 August 2023 the UPC Central Division (Section Munich) issued its first ever decision on a preliminary objection in the case No. UPC_CFI_1/2023.
Publications: 22 August 2023
UPC Insights: New technical judges appointed from courts and IPOs
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) recently announced the appointment of 21 new technically qualified judges (TQJ) to the pool of judges of the pan-European court.
News: 21 July 2023
A&O’s patent practices and lawyers secure top rankings in leading intellectual property platform
Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Patent, the world’s leading patent business media platform, has released its annual rankings guide, listing 16 practices and 32 Allen & Overy lawyers. The platform…
Blog Post: 17 July 2023
When is the composition of a product on the market prior art?
G1/23 – EPO Enlarged Board of Appeals of the EPO “available” (referral from T 0438/19) Under which circumstances can the public prior use of a product constitute prior art for novelty or inventive…
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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