IAM Patent 1000 has once again recognised Carpmaels & Ransford in its rankings. In 2020, the firm remains highly recommended for patent prosecution work, with 13 partners recommended individually by the publication. In addition to its top tier patent prosecution recognition, the firm is delighted that the expertise of our litigation team has been recognised for a second year in the 2020 silver rankings. This year the firm is pleased to announce that the transactions team has also received recognition. We are also listed in the gold tier for the European Patent Office rankings.
According to IAM Patent 1000: “Solid and reliable,” Carpmaels & Ransford continues to fire on all cylinders in the United Kingdom and beyond. Both its venerable prosecution practice and its increasingly lauded contentious division demonstrate particular prowess in the life sciences; as a result, the firm has enticed eight of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies onto its client roster. On the prosecution side, the presence of “leading biotechnology specialists” such as Daniel Wise, Hugh Goodfellow, Cameron Marshall, Harvey Adams, Edward Oates, and James Warner cements its reputation. Wise is a “trusted adviser in the pharmaceutical space”; while head of life sciences Goodfellow shines in numerous oppositions and appeals at the EPO. Marshall steps in at an early stage to devise cogent strategies in anticipation of future patent battles; while Adams is known for his expert tackling of freedom-to-operate issues. Oates is a lifecycle management sage who, along with Warner, has extensive experience conducting opposition proceedings against multiple opponents at the EPO. The team also features the likes of IT and telecoms whizz John Brunner and Chris Tunstall, who garners plaudits for his adroit long-term management of a huge medical device patent portfolio for life sciences giant Johnson & Johnson. Chemist Susan Kirsch is noted for her flourishing opposition and appeal practice in fields as varied as consumer products, food science and polymers. On the contentious side, a recent uptick in instructions is in no small part due to the efforts of “high-flyers” Camilla Balleny, David Wilson and Ian Kirby, who go out to bat for the firm’s A-list pharma clientele. As captain of the litigation arm, Balleny “has entered an elite club and has become a highly respected figure of the British patent litigation market”. Regularly engaging in multi-jurisdictional litigation between companies in the pharmaceutical and telecoms sectors, Wilson makes even the most complex patent disputes look easy. Kirby “conveys information in a manner that is easy to understand, is always available and dispenses business-savvy advice. His approach is a reasoned one, logically working through problems”. Dealmaker and rising star Jake Marshall is doing an “excellent job” providing strategic advice on cross-jurisdictional IP-related settlement agreements.
