8 New Square Intellectual Property

8 NEW SQUARE is the largest specialist intellectual property chambers in the United Kingdom. Chambers has 31 IP Barristers, including 12 KCs. We have two former Judges as door tenants as well as two active Judges sitting in the High Court. 8 New Square’s depth of knowledge and breadth of experience in intellectual property, media and entertainment and IT law is second to none. Chambers is involved in a significant proportion of all IP related trials each year, with members appearing in the majority of recent landmark cases before the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and specialised patent division of the High Court.

From our most senior silks to our most junior members, we can offer technical and scientific expertise over a wide variety of disciplines. Many members of chambers have graduate or post-graduate level scientific qualifications and/or technical industrial experience. Chambers also offers a commercially focused service. We have market-leading experience in dealing with IP issues for large multinational commercial organisations, small to medium-size businesses, government departments and universities as well as individual inventors, artists and musicians. We value our friendly and approachable style and we are committed to achieving the best for our clients.

The set:  Members of chambers are at the forefront of intellectual property litigation; advising on and presenting cases with considerable technical detail. Most have at least an undergraduate science qualification and some have advanced science degrees. Chambers handles litigation for leading commercial organisations around the world and high-profile individuals, as well as small companies and individuals. Members appear in the major English courts and tribunals including the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and The Intellectual Property Office including trade marks and design registries, as well as in cases before the Copyright Tribunal and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. Several members have written leading textbooks on aspects of intellectual property. The Reports of Patent Cases and The Fleet Street Reports, the two main specialist intellectual property law reports, have been edited from these chambers for many years, as well as the most recent editions of Kerly on Trade Marks and Trade Names, The Modern Law of Copyright and Designs and Russell-Clarke and Howe on Industrial Designs.

International:  Not only do members act in the major European courts, they also act in domestic and international arbitrations and mediations. Some are qualified to practice and appear in various courts overseas, including the Far East and the West Indies.

Types of work undertaken:  Patents expertise covers every field of technology. Members act in cases concerning the validity, infringement and licensing of patents and know-how, including competition aspects. A team from chambers acted in the first ever biotechnology patent appeal to reach what is now known as the Supreme Court and a total of five counsel appeared before the same court in the first FRAND rate determination dispute of Unwired Planet v Huawei. Chamber’s expertise and quality in FRAND licensing disputes has again been demonstrated this year with the Court of Appeal decisions in Interdigital Technology Corporation v Lenovo and Panasonic v Xiaomi as well as the High Court trials in Interdigital v Oppo and Panasonic v Oppo.

Other noteworthy patent cases of the last 12 months include Abott v Dexcom, Sandoz & Ors v Bayer, Emotional Perception AI v Comptroller-General for Patents & Philip Morris v Nicoventures Trading.

All members of chambers have wide experience in trade mark infringement, validity and passing-off litigation as well as disputes concerning ownership of trade marks. High profile cases over the last year include: the widely reported Supreme Court decision in Lifestyle Equities v Amazon handed down in March 2024,  easyGroup v Beauty Perfectionists, Shorts International v Google and Thatchers v Aldi which is to be considered by the Court of Appeal at the end of the year.

Copyright litigation and advice includes disputes over industrial design and artistic works, fashion designs, music and literary copyright. Over recent years, chamber’s most noteworthy cases include successfully representing the defendant in Pasternak v Prescott - a dispute relating to the best-selling novel The Secrets we Kept; acting for both sides of the Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers dispute and successfully representing Ed Sheeran in his action against Mr Sami Chokri and Ors – a dispute surrounding the biggest selling song of 2017; “Shape of You”.

Breach of confidence is also an area of expertise, with members of chambers involved in major employer/employee disputes.

Privacy and media & entertainment related disputes form a large part of chambers’ work. Cases have involved leading companies and prominent individuals. Work in this area covers film, music and other related media contracts, publishing and broadcasting disputes, and performers’ rights. Tyburn Film Productions v Broughton & Ors, The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers, Sheeran v Chokri and Shazam v Only Fools The Dining Experience are all cases of recent significance.

Information technology is another major area of chambers’ practice which has included appearances at the Supreme Court – most notably the Cartier International v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd action. This area of expertise includes contractual disputes before the Technology and Construction Court, advice on internet and domain names database rights and data protection. Of particular media & public interest over the last 12 months, Counsel from 8 New Square formed part of the team representing the developers in the identity issues trial of Wright v COPA/BTC Core – a dispute concerning the creator & author of the Bitcoin White Papers & System.

Further information and news is available on the chambers’ website: www.8newsquare.co.uk.