The Legal 500 2026

This year, we are proud to have achieved the following in various practice areas:

Intellectual property (England):

• ‍Firm: Tier 1‍
• Leading Partners: Oliver Laing, Richard Roberts‍
• Leading Associates: Georgia Carr

The guide states: Potter Clarkson LLP remains a preeminent practice for intellectual property in the region, with a team praised by its clients as ‘innovative, hard working and extremely competent’ across its comprehensive offering. A key stream of work for the team is litigation and contentious matters, where co-head of the department Richard Roberts is a go-to contact, lending his experience from litigation across a variety of tribunals to clients in the chemical, automotive, and retail sectors. At the helm of the firm’s licensing and IP transactions team, Oliver Laing has particular expertise in the life sciences and electronic & computing industries. Dave Holt’s far-reaching practice covers cross-border licensing, collaboration agreements, and patent disputes. With a similarly broad practice, Georgia Carr‘s contentious expertise is strengthened by her transactional experience.

Testimonials:

• ‍‍“Potter Clarkson LLP has been innovative, hard working, and extremely competent in every situation. I have already been working with them for years. I'm using them both for the international contract work as well as for the IP services.”
• “They are extremely responsive, competent, intelligent, and hard working. They always deliver high quality on time.”

PATMA: Trade mark attorneys (England):

• ‍ Firm: Tier 1‍
• Next Generation Partners: Edwina FitzHugh‍
• Leading Associates: Harrison Lee

The guide states: Potter Clarkson LLP‘s London-based collective is well-placed to assist its client list, which covers a significant breadth of industry sectors, on the remit of trade mark matters. Brand clearance and protection cases are a key part of the team’s workload, and a key area of focus of team head Emmy Hunt. Trade mark enforcement and portfolio management also feature heavily, and it is well-equipped to handle disputes, including issues of trade mark infringement. Sarah Talland has trade mark prosecution expertise, and experience acting therein across sectors including entertainment, automotive and retail, amongst others. Partner as of January 2025 and ‘expert in the trade mark field’ Edwina FitzHugh is a name to note in Nottingham, as is Harrison Lee, who handles clearance, filing, enforcement, prosecution and the range of contentious cases.

Testimonials:

• ‍‍“They have a highly professional legal team that prioritises clients and spares no effort to prevent any damage to their IP rights.”
• “Edwina FitzHugh is creative, resourceful, professional and clearly an expert in the trade mark field.”

PATMA: Patent attorneys (England):

• ‍Firm: Tier 2‍
• Leading Partners: Fiona Law

The guide states: Potter Clarkson LLP‘s cohort is well-equipped to advise clients on matters spanning the full patent life cycle, including those pertaining to filing, strategy, portfolio management, licensing and litigation. Its client roster features investors, start-ups and multinational corporations, amongst others. Key practitioners in Nottingham are Steve Smith, patent and design specialist Caroline Marshall, Tony Proctor and life sciences expert Mark Didmon who handles oppositions and appeals as part of his practice. The four co-lead alongside London-based Peter Finnie who is experienced advising on IP strategy across industry sectors. Fiona Law is also a name to note in London. Former co-head Jane Wainwright departed in December 2024.

Testimonials:

• ‍‍“I have worked with Michael Pears on several extremely important European oppositions - he has a great understanding of both European oppositions and complex biotechnology inventions - a winning combination - literally and figuratively!”
• “Mark Kramer offered a no-nonsense approach to negotiations and helped secure a great deal with a major European player for a small US biotech. He was a careful reader of the license agreement, making astute contributions. And he has excellent client management skills.”

Intellectual Property and Media (Sweden):

• Firm: Tier 4

The guide states: Potter Clarkson LLP has core expertise in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with further aptitude across the automotive, industrial, and energy sectors. Clients include both start-ups and multinationals, which the team supports both domestically and across Northern Europe. Leading the team are patents expert Christopher Cadman, trade mark specialist Cameron Malone-Brown, and Jesper Sellin, who focuses on litigation and licensing matters.

Testimonials:

• "They have a highly professional legal team that prioritises clients and spares no effort to prevent any damage to their intellectual property rights."
• "The Potter IP team includes IP lawyers and technical experts with backgrounds in life sciences, engineering, and technology, offering holistic solutions across industries like pharmaceuticals, telecoms, and consumer goods."

Intellectual Property (Denmark):

• Firm: Tier 5

The guide states: Potter Clarkson LLP is a trusted advisor across the full spectrum of IP matters, operating seamlessly through its UK network and Scandinavian offices. The team supports clients across Northern Europe with US market entry and global IP strategies, leveraging a deep bench of sector experts. Led by Lars Karnøe, a recognised IP lawyer with extensive cross-border experience, the practice also includes a team of patent attorneys skilled in diverse industry-specific issues and portfolio management.

Patents (Contentious and Non-Contentious) (England):

• Firm: Tier 5

The guide states: Jointly led by Mark Kramer, who represents a varied client list across all courts, Richard Roberts, who splits his time between London and Nottingham, the patents team at Potter Clarkson LLP acts for well-established companies and individuals in pharma, life sciences, tech, and telecoms patent litigation, and advises on transactional mandates, from R&D agreements to joint ventures. Mark Nichols focuses on AI issues. Peter Finnie, especially recommended for his work with startups, is another name to note.

Testimonials:

• ‍‍“Regular collaborative meetings. An excellent and knowledgeable team.”
• “Excellent level of diligence and understanding of our company. Also, emphasis on looking ahead, not just working on the short-term.”

Intellectual property (Trademarks, Copyright and Design) (England):

• ‍Firm: Firm to Watch