Intellectual Property

Lore Leitner, Gibson Dunn

Gibson Dunn recruits privacy partner from Goodwin

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has hired a new partner from Goodwin to expand its privacy and cybersecurity team in London. Lore Leitner joins as a partner in the privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation practice, moving from Goodwin where she has been a partner for over two years. Her career has seen her gain experience at […]

EasyJet

‘We need specialists’: EasyJet boss hits out at judges after trademark defeat

EasyGroup founder and chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou has called out chancery judges in a statement released today (13 June) after Justice Bacon ruled against the company in a claim brought against cosmetics company Beauty Perfectionists in the High Court. He has already stated his intention to appeal the ruling. Haji-Ioannou said: “We have found that there […]

Music

Spotlight: Facing the music with Wiggin

In this week’s Spotlight, we take a look at Wiggin’s music team to discover the disputes behind our favourite hits. The market: The music industry has been one of the hardest hit by emerging technologies and mediums such as shortform video and artificial intelligence (AI). Streaming now dominates how music is consumed, and while it’s […]

fintech mobile phone

Kirkland and Reed Smith lead as key FRAND case settles

Kirkland & Ellis and Reed Smith have taken leading roles in the settlement of the UK’s first “implementer-led” Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) action. The settlement was reached on 4 April and decided via a Tomlin Order, rendering the details of the parties’ settlement confidential. A first instance trial was set to heard tomorrow (12 […]

Claim spotter: EasyGroup takes on more “brand thieves”, while Barclays and NatWest team up

EasyGroup takes on “brand thieves” again in new suit EasyGroup, the owning group of budget airline EasyJet, has filed a part 7 “passing off and trade marks claim” in the Intellectual Property List, continuing its long-running campaign against what it calls “brand thieves”. Stephenson Harwood has been called in to represent EasyGroup in this latest […]

sports direct

In court this week: Sports Direct and Newcastle United

Sports Direct takes on Newcastle United in kit rights clash The Magpies are heading to the Competition Appeal Tribunal tomorrow (9 April) for one day in a claim brought by Sports Direct, as the high street sports equipment retailer challenges Newcastle United over its third-party kit sales policy. Sports Direct, represented by Travers Smith, alleges […]

Gemma Barrett

Another hire for A&O: IP partner joins firm

Allen & Overy is once again boosting its ranks before its merger with Shearman & Sterling, hiring a new partner to its IP team from Bristows. Gemma Barrett is joining A&O after 17 years at Bristows, where she made partner at the end of 2017. Barrett handles cross-border patent litigation matters within Europe, India and […]

In court this week: Google returns to CAT for £920m class action, as ex-solicitor takes on SRA

Google class action returns to CAT for fourth CMC Google is back in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) this Friday for a fourth case management conference (CMC) in Elizabeth Coll’s long-running class action against the software behemoth. Coll, who is represented by Hausfeld, is representing a class of Android device users who have used the […]

Metaverse

Spotlight: Step into the metaverse with Bird & Bird

After the excitement of new technologies such as NFTs, AI, and 5G comes the slow and arduous legal work of finding out who owns what and who’s getting paid; this is where Bird & Bird’s intellectual property team steps in. The market: Standard-essential patents (SEPs) are the bread and butter of the IP market, setting technical […]