Region Area

Lawyers

Katie McConnell

Work Department

Intellectual Property, Media, and Technology

Position

Counsel

Career

Katie is a solicitor advocate with extensive experience representing clients in major multi-jurisdictional patent disputes in the telecoms and pharmaceutical sectors. Katie is also recognized for her practical and solution oriented approach when drafting and negotiating licensing, settlement, and IP aspects of other commercial agreements.

In the telecoms sector, Katie advises on and coordinates cross-border patent disputes (including acting on behalf of Qualcomm, HTC, ZTE), patent arbitration (including in relation to disputes over the appropriate royalties and terms for licenses of standards essential patents), and issues relating to standards essential and non-essential patents.

Katie's has advised on a number of Life Sciences 'firsts', including acting for Merck in the first UK cases challenging the interpretation of European legislation regarding pediatric extensions, and in the first UK case on the interpretation of the Specific Mechanism (ultimately resulting in a favorable ruling from the CJEU). Katie has significant expertise in the area of SPCs and pediatric extensions.

Key examples of Katie's transactional experience include acting for Novartis on IP aspects of is US$16bn portfolio transformation transactions with GSK, and advising the Kraft and Mondelez Groups on the IP aspects of their demerger, as it affected their global coffee business. Katie also regularly advises on a range of other non-contentious and pre-litigation IP matters including review and selection of suitable candidate patents for assertion in licensing negotiations and patent litigation.

Languages

French - Spoken Basic, Written BasicSpanish - Spoken Basic. Written Basic

Mentions

TMT (technology, media and telecoms) • London

Intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious)

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