Avi Freeman

Partner. Patents. Head of Mechanical, Engineering, Physics & Digital group

Experienced in working with market leading companies from fields as diverse as optics, communications, computer hardware and software, and electronic and mechanical engineering, Avi also takes great satisfaction in assisting start-ups and young companies, especially when the IP infrastructure he has helped to create supports their growth. He also enjoys supporting international hi-tech companies, either directly or through local patent attorneys.

Widely admired for his experience in the engineering, physics and electronics sectors, Avi has considerable expertise in advising on and obtaining patent protection for computer hardware and software. Valued by clients for his strong strategic sense, technical knowledge and real-world business skills, he prides himself on taking time to understand their products and deliver pragmatic advice, on time and to budget.

Avi is skilled at drafting, filing and prosecuting cases at the European Patent Office and at the UK Intellectual Property Office, acting for multinational corporations and start-ups alike. He has comprehensive experience of post-grant procedures at the EPO, achieving a high success rate in oppositions and appeals. Avi also has a large caseload before international patent offices, particularly the USPTO, where he prosecutes applications on behalf of direct clients with the assistance of local counsel. In addition to his patent workload, Avi also advises on the protection of both registered and unregistered designs. His problem solving skills mean that Avi is often brought in by clients when value added advice is at a premium, or asked to take over troublesome cases from other firms.

Active in thought leadership, Avi writes and publishes in the field of computer-implemented inventions, an area in which he is internationally recognised. He travels widely to the US, Asia and the Middle East, speaking and presenting on matters of European law ranging from general developments, like the European unitary patent, to the more specific, such as the European and UK approach to the protection of computer-implemented inventions. Avi, having been invited, recently chaired a round table on the subject of AI at the Asian Patent Attorneys Association Council Meeting.

University of Bristol (1995 BSc Physics); Queen Mary College, University of London (1997 MSc Management of Intellectual Property).