Who are WP Thompson
Our Profile
Established in 1873, the firm is a specialist IP prosecution and litigation firm. We are a full-service European IP firm, with our primary offices in London, the financial and legal centre of Europe, Liverpool, in the commercial and industrial heartland of the UK, and Cardiff, the capital of Wales and near the home of the UKIPO. We have also established an expanding regional presence serving the Home Counties and the North West of England.
With a strong direct client base in Europe and a wide range of expertise in our team, we offer the highest standard of advice and assistance to our clients. Our collaborative approach means that we work closely with our clients, getting to know their businesses and technologies so we can advise them from a position of knowledge and experience.
We also have a substantial number of clients overseas, and a commensurate network of professional relationships in every functioning IP jurisdiction worldwide. We believe that our experience in meeting the day to day needs of our domestic clients provides the best possible background for understanding the issues faced by our overseas clients. This means we are able to advise on European prosecution and enforcement issues with a strong appreciation of their commercial priorities.
Our expertise covers an extensive range of technologies, from electronic engineering and mechanical sciences, through to chemistry and biotechnology, and our team includes specialists in trade mark prosecution and enforcement. Litigation specialists also form an integral part of our team of professionals, meaning our advice is based upon a balanced foundation of commercial, technological and legal awareness.
Honours & Testimonials
WP Thompson's offices
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Our Ethos
Clients
Our ethos is exclusively focused on meeting our clients' needs and expectations now, and on providing our clients with professional advice and support services which are technically excellent, legally sophisticated and commercially astute.
IP Inclusive
WP Thompson is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion (D&I) internally and within the IP community. We are part of IP Inclusive's senior leaders' think tank, which has recently launched a "Leaders' Pledge", which can be found under Documents. Its aim is to help senior professionals provide visible and active leadership on improving diversity and inclusion in their organisations. The new pledge has been signed by WP Thompson's partners Stuart Forrest, David Gill, Alistair McKinnon and Julian Potter.
What's happening in IP
See all news13.12.2024
An EPO decision has instigated a radical change in the understanding of the last point in which a divisional may be filed.
A decision J1/24 from the Legal Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (see also factually corresponding J2/24) has recently been handed down. J1/24 has radically changed the long‑understood view that a divisional patent application of a European patent application can only be filed up until the day before the date of the mention of grant of a European patent.
Full story16.10.2024
Following a criminal complaint filed by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in September 2024 the criminal court of Munich, Germany has convicted three fraudsters for sending misleading payment requests to trade mark owners.
The defendants’ conduct was considered commercial fraud, leading to a sentence of 22 months imprisonment for each defendant and the confiscation of €200,000 (the amount unlawfully obtained) to be used for compensation.
Full story30.08.2024
What’s the UPC and what’s changing?
The commencement of the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent System on 1st June 2023, was the culmination of decades of work to further harmonise and unify the patent law landscape in Europe. With the arrival of the new court, rights holders have been granted a new forum for litigation and patent enforcement which allows a single decision to have a binding effect in multiple national European states, while a single Unitary Patent (UP) can be maintained to preserve rights in all of the UPC signatory states.
From its inception in 2023, the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) has had effect in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden, a region home to more than 330 million people.
Full story15.05.2024
WP Thompson was among the winners in SME News Magazine's 2024 UK Legal Awards.
Full storySeen enough?
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