England - London • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)

Wiggin LLP

More informationMore information

Wiggin LLP’s ‘friendly and engaging’ team is renowned for its technology and media sector expertise and is also capable of acting across a diverse range of other sectors, from film and music to pharma and gaming. Leading the practice is Sara Ashby, who advises on patent enforcement and strategy with extensive experience in the litigation sphere. Key contact Calum Smyth’s range of expertise encompasses software patentability, technology transactions, brand protection, M&A and structuring issues, whilst Michael Browne’s broad experience extends from patent entitlement disputes and various other proceedings, to drafting and negotiating joint development, licensing and franchise agreements. Associates Georgina Hart and Sinclaire Marber Schäfer are other names to note in the practice, the latter joining from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP in May 2022.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Fantastic boutique IP firm with some exceptional lawyers. Friendly and engaging lawyers who provide excellent commercial and strategic advice. Very strong in patent matters.’

  • ‘An extremely experienced IP team, many individuals with decades of experience litigating the full range of IP and TMT disputes. They have technical, and industry related expertise coupled with excellent knowledge and judgment.’

  • ‘Michael Browne has outstanding analytical skills that enable him to identify the key issues in the most complex of cases, enabling the team to focus on what really matters, and then use his knowledge, experience and judgment to develop a winning strategy for the client.'

  • 'Sara Ashby is extremely clever and has decades of experience as an IP litigator dealing with some of the most difficult and wide-ranging cases. Her sound judgment and sage advice enables clients to achieve the best possible outcomes.’

Key clients

  • 3M
  • Permavent Limited & Greenhill Industrial Holdings Limited
  • Evolution Gaming
  • Sage Group Plc
  • Thought Machine Group Limited

Work highlights

  • Acted for 3M in patent revocation proceedings before the High Court.
  • Acted for Lacuna Space Limited in High Court litigation relating to cutting edge satellite communications technologies.
  • Advised Evolution Gaming on the IP aspects of its acquisition of gambling technology provider Transigo Limited (t/a Digiwheel).

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Sara Ashby

Sara Ashby

Wiggin LLP

Sara is a partner in the intellectual property team, with over 20 years' litigation experience. Sara has a broad intellectual property litigation practice across all IP rights, with a significant patent practice across a wide range of technical fields, alongside her designs, trade marks and copyright disputes work. She has particular experience and interest in designs law and parallel import matters and, having started life as a general commercial litigator, is particularly adept at dealing with contractual matters and non-standard IP disputes. Sara litigates in the High Court, including under the pilot Shorter Trial Scheme, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), the registries (the UK IPO and the EUIPO) and the Court of Appeal, and has taken cases to Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ECJ or CJEU), as well as coordinating with parallel litigation in other jurisdictions.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Sara Ashby

Other key lawyers

Calum Smith, Michael Browne, Georgina Hart, Sinclaire Marber Schäfer