Jonathon Woodward

Jonny bridges the Engineering, Tech and Chemistry practice groups, and handles a wide range of subject matter that covers everything from medical technology to novel materials to consumer products. Particular areas of expertise include medical devices such as surgical staplers, ultrasonic instruments and electro-catheters, as well as fiber-reinforced polymers and methods of their manufacture. Jonny’s work extends beyond this to more “conventional” consumer products such as suitcases and even clothing.

Jonny’s experience covers the full IP lifecycle, from helping start-ups identify their inventions, drafting and prosecuting patent applications to protect these, and attacking and defending the resulting patents in post-grant contentious proceedings. Jonny has advised on and used registered designs to obtain cost effective and rapid protection for a wide range of clients, helping build the value of their portfolios and the speed at which they can be enforced.

Jonny has handled numerous opposition cases at the EPO, both at first instance and at appeal stages. He has both attacked and defended patents successfully, quickly identifying the turning points of a case, and using carefully delivered advocacy to shore up weaknesses and exploit strengths. By focusing on the technical details of the case while maintaining awareness of the bigger picture of the dispute, Jonny has achieved commercially relevant results for his clients that go beyond simply taking out or saving a patent.

Jonny graduated from the University of Oxford with a first-class degree in Engineering in 2013, placing in the top 5% of a course that gave him a good understanding of everything from structures to thermodynamics to circuit theory. After focusing on Materials Science and Mechanics, he was awarded the IMechE Frederic Barnes Waldron Prize for the highest-placing Mechanical Engineering student in final year examinations. Whilst studying, he was also awarded a Gibbs Prize for best group performance in a project that designed a high-speed carbon fiber flywheel for use in a hybrid bus. In his final year, Jonny took over a long-term project to develop a supersonic calibration facility for multi-hole air probes used in turbo-machinery flow measurements, and brought the facility to the stage where the first calibration data could be collected.

When he is not working, Jonny enjoys cycling, hiking up mountains with his slightly overactive dog, and exploring new places.