Sara Ashby - Partner
T: +44 (0)20 7776 4760
E: sara@redd.eu
Sara is predominantly a litigator, focusing on contentious IP, advising on all aspects of enforcement strategy, infringement and validity issues, and conducting legal proceedings or alternative dispute resolution for all IP rights (patents, trade marks, passing off, designs, copyright, trade secrets); all related competition issues; advertising issues; contractual matters; parallel import cases; trade libel and malicious falsehood; and anti-counterfeiting matters. Sara is recognised as a "leading individual" by Chambers UK Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession (2009).
In the patent field, Sara recently acted for the successful Defendants in the Pozzoli -v- BDMO patent matter, in the which the Court of Appeal re-stated the Windsurfing test for obviousness. Other recent patent matters include acting for claimants and defendants, whether based in the UK or elsewhere, in the following fields: portable flash memory disks; electrical goods; household goods; air fresheners; display units; laminate flooring systems; suspension systems; optical apparatus; gas meters; balloon valves; breast implant technology.
In the trade mark field, Sara has been involved in leading UK trade mark parallel import litigation, Boehringer Ingelheim -v- Dowelhurst, since its outset in 1998, acting for two major pharmaceutical companies through High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings and through two references to the European Court of Justice. Other recent trade mark and passing off work includes acting for: the proprietor of a well known sun protection product in successful interim injunction proceedings based on unfair advantage; the claimant in multi-party, multi-jurisdictional trade mark infringement litigation in the tobacco industry; the defendant in litigation relating to the trade mark Hotpicks for lottery games; many other infringement and validity matters covering a broad range of goods and services for well known marks for goods and services as diverse as: toothpaste; electrical goods - from sockets and switches to mobile phones; restaurant names; eyewear; fashion; publishing; automotive; reflective products; software.
In the design field Sara's cases cover the full range of design protection available in the UK, and have included acting for: the claimant in UK registered design litigation concerning electrical sockets and switches; the claimant in Community design litigation (registered and unregistered) in the toys sector; the claimant in two leading cases, including in the Court of Appeal, in UK unregistered design right and UK registered design for a major UK umbrella manufacturer. Other subject matter of designs work has included anything from advertising displays to footwear to general household goods.
Admitted as a Solicitor in 1996, Sara trained with Gouldens and started life as a general commercial litigator but soon specialised in intellectual property to become a core member of Gouldens' highly regarded intellectual property practice. Sara stayed with the firm through its merger with Jones Day in 2003, undertaking a period of secondment at a busy and well respected trade marks department of a major pharmaceutical company along the way. Sara founded Redd with partners Charters and Simon in July 2004.
Sara is a visiting lecturer on the Oxford University Post-Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, lecturing on litigation and tutoring and examining on designs and copyright. Sara is also on the Diploma Management Committee for the course.
Sara regularly delivers talks in the UK and overseas on intellectual property matters.
Sara is a contributor to the Community Designs Handbook which is issued jointly by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys. She also regularly contributes to the Australian publication, IP Forum and has published articles in other leading IP publications including the European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR).
Sara is Honorary Secretary of the British Group of the UNION of European Patent Attorneys, a sub-committee member of the International Trade Marks Association (INTA), a member of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), a member of the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (IPLA), & a member of the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group (PTMG). Sara is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (CIPA) and the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA).
Sara is married with three children and lives in Ealing, West London.
Recent talks
- May 08
Berlin - INTA Annual Meeting - Chair, table topic forum, brand licensing, restrictions competition issues. - May 08
Berlin - INTA Annual Meeting - Chair, table topic forum, recent ECJ decisions. - November 07
CIPA Congress - Packaging and Repackaging in Europe. - March 07
ITMA International Meeting, London, U.K - Jurisdiction in relation to national and Community trade marks: Pan European relief. - October 06
PTMG Annual Meeting, Boston, U.S.A. - Parallel imports in Europe.
