Farrer & Co

Intellectual Property.

David is the Head of the Higher Education Group. He specialises in non-contentious intellectual property and commercial law, predominantly advising clients operating in IP rich sectors such as media, culture and higher education. David regularly advises clients on a range of issues relating to the acquisition, protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights, including in relation to trade marks, copyright, and other forms of registered and unregistered rights. His principal areas of focus are complex collaborative projects involving the creation and/or exploitation of intellectual property, and IP considerations arising in corporate transactions, research collaborations and joint ventures. In terms of more general commercial work, David has expertise in relation to technology contracts, IT and business process outsourcing, supply and distribution agreements and a range of other contractual matters. Recent experience includes:

• advising a number of London universities on significant strategic collaborations in India, Singapore, China and Hong Kong;
• advising Historic Royal Palaces on the joint venture arrangements relating to the poppies at the Tower of London, voted London’s top cultural attraction of 2014;
• coordinating IP due diligence on one of the UK’s premier music publishing catalogues for a private bank;
• advising the RFU on a joint venture and outsourcing arrangement relating to the provision of hospitality and catering at Twickenham Stadium;
• advising the Institute of Cancer Research on its ground-breaking agreement with BACIT Limited, an innovative LSE listed fund-of-funds established to help fund the battle against cancer;
• constructing and analysing complex EU funded research consortia under Horizon 2020, including Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs)

Trained at Farrer & Co and qualified in September 2004. Upon qualification in 2004, David spent six months on secondment as legal advisor at the Science Museum. More recently, he has been seconded to one of the firm’s private clients on a part time basis to assist on copyright and confidentiality related matters. David became a Partner in 2013.

University of Birmingham.