The sizeable team at William Fry LLP has a strong IP practice, with particular expertise in contentious matters, where it assists high-profile technology, pharma, and FMCG clients with matters related to the infringement of trade marks, copyright, and patents. The firm also has a significant non-contentious practice, advising on the protection and exploitation of IP rights, multi-jurisdictional patents, and the management of trade mark portfolios. Laura Scott heads the firm’s contentious IP practice and regularly handles large-scale litigation before the Irish Commercial Court, while Leo Moore leads the non-contentious practice and assists clients with brand protection strategies. David Cullen, Charleen O’Keeffe, and Colette Brady are other key members of the team.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘The team are extremely commercial in their approach to intellectual property law and litigation and strategic in their thinking. They understand the client's approach to matters, not just legally.’
‘Charleen O'Keeffe and Colette Brady are both excellent and very commercial in their advice.’
‘The William Fry IP team is as strong as it gets, not just in Ireland, but in most jurisdictions where I have IP needs. Leo Moore and Laura Scott's team has the strength in depth to handle the most complex of matters with aplomb. Most importantly, we use this firm because of the trust we have in Leo to deliver high-quality insights and guidance on complex and strategically important matters.’
‘Leo Moore is my go-to lawyer for trade mark and IP matters in Ireland. He is astute, commercially minded and results-focused.'
'Laura Scott is a great litigator with a sharp, strategic mind. She fights hard for her clients.’
‘Leo Moore is our key contact in William Fry. As well as being a pleasure to work with, we find Leo to be practical, astute and commercial; he will address simple and complex matters with the required level of sophistication to meet client needs – this goes for the wider William Fry team too.’
‘We rate Leo Moore and the team for their commercial awareness and application, and our clients likewise appreciate their input for this reason. Service levels and responsiveness are second to none.’
‘Laura Scott and Leo Moore are brilliant. Together, their litigation and transactional skills mean they can cover all angles of IP, and I would not hesitate to recommend them, including for the most complex and high-value matters.’

Key clients

Diageo
Valeo Food Groups
X-Celeprint
CISAC
Tines
Eli Lilly
AstraZeneca
Skyscanner
UKG

Work highlights

Advised Diageo on a wide variety of intellectual property matters, including management of its trade mark portfolio, new product launches, and comparative advertising and regulatory queries.
Represented Eli Lilly in various contentious IP matters, including Commercial Court proceedings for the revocation of a patent held by Novartis Pharma AG.
Represented Skyscanner in Commercial Court proceedings brought by Ryanair.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Laura Scott

William Fry LLP

Laura Scott is a Partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department specialising in intellectual property and regulatory law. Laura advises on all aspects of contentious work involving patents, trade marks, copyright, designs and confidential information and has extensive experience in large-scale litigation before the Irish Commercial Court, including complex multi-jurisdictional patent disputes. Laura also has significant experience in acting for regulators in defending judicial review actions, statutory appeals and other legal challenges. Laura has particular expertise in the pharmaceutical and medical device sector from a regulatory, commercial and intellectual property perspective. Other areas of focus include regulatory and other issues in the fields of telecommunications, broadcast media, and advertising and marketing.

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