Our contentious work
Many disputes are resolved without the need to commence legal proceedings. Of those matters that do litigate, many are settled in the early stages and certainly most do not go to a full trial.
Before disputes arise
Litigation is like the tip of an iceberg. Our skills as IP lawyers can come into play long before a dispute has arisen. For example, when clients are developing a new product or design or launching a new brand, there is scope for expert advice to ensure that if a dispute arises in due course the client is in as good a position as it can be for the protection of its business interests.
For potential claimants, this covers matters as diverse as ensuring that: any unregistered design rights subsist in the first place; ownership of all IP rights is in the correct hands; appropriate records are being retained; where knowledge of IP rights by infringers is relevant to liability, that those IP rights are appropriately published; establishing in the market sector a reputation for enforcing IP rights which discourages infringers.
For potential defendants, all Redd lawyers provide infringement, validity and clearance opinions; we also give strategic advice on matters covering: packaging; text of advertising and marketing materials; pre-launch correspondence and, in appropriate cases, revocation proceedings and proceedings for declarations of non-infringement. The worst scenario is usually to be at the receiving end of a claim which could have been avoided or an interim injunction application at the time of a new product launch.
Dispute resolution and litigation
Once a dispute has arisen our skill as litigators is to resolve that dispute in a manner which best achieves a client's commercial objectives. Those objectives will vary from case to case, even for the same client. Stage one for us is always to identify what those objectives are and then help the client achieve them if possible.
Where the right thing to do is to litigate we will do so and where it is to resolve matters by some other form of dispute resolution, such as mediation, we will follow that route.
Redd's litigation practice is comprehensive: it includes all IP rights (patents, trade marks, passing off, designs, copyright, trade secrets and confidential information); all related competition issues; advertising issues; contractual matters; parallel import cases; trade libel and malicious falsehood; anti-counterfeiting strategies and proceedings; domain name recovery.
Redd lawyers have litigated in all the English courts: the High Court, the Patents County Court, the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and in Europe, such as the European Court of Justice. Redd lawyers also have extensive experience of alternative dispute resolution forums, such as arbitration and mediation.
Redd lawyers have litigated in many industry sectors, including: pharmaceuticals; biotech; medical devices; publishing; computer games; software; electrical goods; mobile phones; household goods; media disc packaging; flash memory drives; fashion clothing; sportswear; footwear; accessories; toys; automotive; fast moving consumer goods including toothpaste, food products, air fresheners, skin care products; laminate flooring systems; optical apparatus; suspension systems; gas meters; burglar alarms; reflective products. A selection of decided cases can be viewed here.
