Strategic & contentious IP

Business success often depends on IP success. A cohesive, business-focused IP strategy from the C-suite to the coal face ensures your entire enterprise is pulling in the same direction. We are adept in advising clients in contentious matters to maximise benefit, and your business is too valuable to hinge on a single contentious matter.
 

Internationally recognised for our success in UK and European disputes

Kilburn & Strode’s unrivalled IP strategists leverage more than 100 years of global IP experience to secure you the strongest rights not only now, but for years to come. Our team is internationally recognised for their success in UK and European IP disputes - attacking, defending, and advising on some of the most valuable IP portfolios in the world. 
 

Strategists to help you pick your battles and focus on those which are commercially relevant

Your IP portfolio is the cornerstone of your business and often your most valuable asset. This should be strategically planned and your portfolio should work for you, maximising your commercial advantage over competitors. Kilburn & Strode helps you to build value in your portfolio, identify risks, and exploit your competitors’ weaknesses, all whilst effectively allocating your resources.  
 

Make your cases ironclad

We take our expertise and learnings from countless oppositions to strengthen your cases. A proactive, forward-thinking IP portfolio that reflects your business is not only an asset on your balance sheet, but one which allows you to stay one step ahead and outmanoeuvre your competition.

I have often said that no one will out think, out prepare or out perform you. I am glad you are on our side!

- Client quote

Expertise through (a lot of) experience: Super boosting opposition successes for a US-based multinational conglomerate

Our client’s inventions relate to ground-breaking science which improve our lives and our environment. When patents covering such important patents are challenged, we are ready to robustly defend them and to consider the impact of those challenges on the rest of the patent portfolio.
 
Working for a multinational conglomerate corporation, we have successfully defended key patents against multiple challenges before both the Opposition Division and the Boards of Appeal. Our expertise is born from experience. We excel at handling multi party oppositions and appeals. We know how to present cases effectively, whether that is in writing, orally, by video conference or in person. Our clients understand that their cases are in safe hands. In short, no one will represent you better than we can.

Defending a ground-breaking anti-cancer immunotherapy patent in opposition proceedings

Our clients trust us to protect their most valuable assets.
 
We secured grant of a European patent protecting a first-in-class bifunctional fusion protein immunotherapy that was in clinical development with potential in several difficult-to-treat cancers. The drug was the subject of a multi-billion-pound development deal between two pharma giants.
 
Multiple third parties attacked the patent at the EPO after grant. By working closely with our client and technical experts on detailed submissions to rebut the third-party challenges, we successfully demonstrated that the patent was valid in opposition proceedings and preserved our client’s protection for this groundbreaking new therapy.

Strategic overhaul

Kilburn & Strode’s strategic excellence is demonstrated by our recent takeover of the management of the patent activities of a client with a significant annual patents budget.
 
This has involved a complete redesign of all aspects of their approach to patents, including: presentations to Board members and investors, designing a global patent filing strategy with a view to future licensing and litigation, managing a large existing portfolio of patent assets, budget setting, developing new and ground-breaking metrics for quantifying the relevance of the company’s patent portfolio to their own commercial plans, as well as to those of their major rivals, invention harvesting, taking over defence of the company’s most valuable patents in EPO oppositions and appeals, IP infringement risk analysis, gathering intelligence on competitors, and delivering IP training to inventors.

Billion dollar launch

We work with some of the world’s largest financial investment houses on time-critical and high pressure projects. When the one of these acquired the UK pensions, and US health and benefits arm of a Fortune 500 professional services firm, Kilburn & Strode assisted the new transatlantic business in the time-sensitive clearance and bespoke trade mark project. More than five million end users would be serviced by the new brand overnight upon completion of the deal, so choosing and protecting the right name was critical.
 
This involved multijurisdictional clearance projects simultaneously to identify and mitigate risks for first choice and backup trade marks, before strategically applying to register each in the core territories of interest. Aligning the timeframes for multiple intellectual property offices with those of a typical M&A deal and commercial goals of a new business is a real challenge – but our proactive and strategic approach successfully mitigated risk, whilst bolstering the company’s position as a market-leading brand with an IP portfolio to match those ambitions.

Events

30 January 2025 - Global patent strategies in life sciences and chemistry

30 January 2025 - Global patent strategies in life sciences and chemistry

This exclusive webinar brings together industry veterans Rike Dekker and Nick Lee, who collectively hold over 60 years of experience in patent strategy. They'll share their proven strategies to help you take your portfolio to the next level.

19 November 2024 - Attacking MedTech patents in the US and Europe – strategies for post-grant proceedings at the USPTO, the EPO and the UPC

19 November 2024 - Attacking MedTech patents in the US and Europe – strategies for post-grant proceedings at the USPTO, the EPO and the UPC

Join us for this 30-minute webinar where experts from Kilburn & Strode and Meunier, Curlin & Curfman will explore the key strategies for challenging MedTech patents in the United States and Europe.

6 November 2024 - Premium medical technology patents – US and European considerations

6 November 2024 - Premium medical technology patents – US and European considerations

In just 30 minutes, this dynamic webinar will provide you with expert insights from both US and European perspectives on how to craft premium patent applications in the rapidly evolving medical technology/device sector.

Recommended reading

Should I worry about competitors’ intellectual property?

Should I worry about competitors’ intellectual property?

There are two categories of intellectual property (IP) rights: yours and everyone else’s. Both need to be taken seriously. We are now going to concentrate on the latter: IP rights owned by people external to your business, for example a competitor. These might be referred to as third party IP rights.

RNA therapeutics: a promising new technology with a complex and rapidly evolving patent landscape

RNA therapeutics: a promising new technology with a complex and rapidly evolving patent landscape

Despite the recent advances in mRNA technology following the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of using RNA as a therapeutic has been around for many years.

Brand battles in Food & Drink: How to play the game and win

Brand battles in Food & Drink: How to play the game and win

Are brand owners getting more active on social media? Or are marketing teams getting more creative with their posts and campaigns? Or is it just that the public are more aware of trade marks and branding than ever before?

Infringing AI Patents: Who’s liable, a UK perspective?

Infringing AI Patents: Who’s liable, a UK perspective?

Co-authored with Toby Bond, Bird & Bird and first published by Law360. The past year has seen a steep uptake in private investment and impressive technical achievements in AI and machine learning, according to the 2022 AI Index.

Patent risk: the new boardroom priority

Patent risk: the new boardroom priority

Patent risk management has been moving up the boardroom priority list in recent years because the cost of ignoring the risks posed by third party patents is simply too great.

Healthcare technology and EPO oppositions: why your dependent claims matter

Healthcare technology and EPO oppositions: why your dependent claims matter

Advances in diagnostic devices like X-ray machines and MRI scanners, as well as prosthetic implants and surgical tools, has led to a boom in patenting in the field of medical technology.

Prior Use ''Pitfalls'' in EPO Oppositions

Prior Use ''Pitfalls'' in EPO Oppositions

This practical update takes a look at how best to use public prior use in an EPO opposition and the potential pitfalls to avoid. A public prior use attack in opposition may seem like a sure thing, but it’s not as simple as you might expect in practice.

International Patent Litigation

International Patent Litigation

Proud of our Chairman Professor Gwilym Roberts for contributing & editing the 2nd edition of International Patent Litigation.

The case for UK litigation: Quality v Cost

The case for UK litigation: Quality v Cost

Litigating is expensive. Naturally, therefore, determining a strategy for whether and where to enforce patent rights can provoke tough decisions. A recent report by the UK IPO, burnishes the UK’s reputation as highly-rated jurisdiction for patent litigation, but does not side-step the reality that this quality often comes at high financial cost.

Let us keep you up to date. If you’d like to receive communications from us, ranging from breaking news to technical updates, thought leadership to event invitations, please let us know.

Connect with us