Peter Herrick

Peter sits in the Engineering and Tech teams and works for clients across the technical spectrum. He has particular experience in the fields of surgical instruments, diagnostic devices and medical monitoring technology, in optics and microfluidics, and in the realm of computer-implemented inventions. Peter’s work in each area spans the full lifecycle of a patent, from the initial invention mining of a client’s product or idea, through all stages of drafting and prosecution, to both attacking and defending patents in EPO opposition and appeal proceedings. Peter’s work has included matters requiring coordination with national litigation strategies and matters that secure a client’s freedom-to-operate for specific product lines.

In addition to a substantial portfolio of UK and European work, Peter provides detailed advice and centralised prosecution strategies for his clients, coordinating parallel applications to cover key commercial technologies across the globe, including in the USA, Japan, China, South Korea and India. Clients appreciate Peter’s strategic oversight as they develop their worldwide portfolios, alongside his initiative in identifying opportunities that exploit the nuances of local patent laws to create an edge over their competitors.

Peter’s clients range from multinational companies to individual inventors. However, regardless of their size, Peter is a creative and persistent advocate in pursuit of his client’s commercial goals, always having an eye on the bigger picture, but without losing sight of the technical detail.

Peter entered the patent profession in 2013 and qualified as a patent attorney in 2017. He holds both a first class degree in Natural Sciences (Physics) and a PhD in Medical Imaging from the University of Cambridge. The tenacity and focus acquired during his PhD studies has equipped Peter to both identify and analyse the critical points of his cases, and enables him to provide clients with a pragmatic analysis of the issues upon which a case turns. His technical background in Experimental and Theoretical Physics gives him a robust grounding in optics, electromagnetism, mechanics and thermodynamics that enables him to tackle a variety of work in mechanical and electrical engineering.

Outside of work, Peter is a keen skier and before joining the profession, he spent a season qualifying as an instructor in Fernie, British Columbia. When not on the slopes, Peter is also an enthusiastic reader, particularly enjoying authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.