It’s not great form to blow one’s own trumpet too loudly; however we are permitting ourselves a muted toot today, to celebrate the inclusion of our IP and IT practices in The Legal 500 2012. The Legal 500 is an annual publication which “provides the most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers”. Being included is an accolade, particularly since the editorial team make their decisions based on client recommendations. This year we are delighted and extremely proud of the Waterfront entries. Our IP practice (which appears in the same category as the likes of Freshfields) has a superb mention:
The team at Waterfront Solicitors ‘punches above its weight’, and has an ‘easy-going, can-do attitude’. Mainly handling contentious matters, it recently represented Kenwood in trade mark litigation, and defended Dynamic Cassette International against patent proceedings brought by Seiko Epson. Matthew Harris is ‘friendly, brilliant, direct, and able to think outside the box’; and Piers Strickland is ‘excellent for demanding litigation, and very tactically aware’.
Meanwhile, our IT practice has been moved up a category (ranking us firmly alongside some of the City heavyweights), which is a tremendous acknowledgment of the continuing focus of Waterfront to provide expert legal advice to emerging technology sectors. The Legal 500 said of the IT practice:
Waterfront Solicitors’ clients regard it ‘as part of the team running the business’. The group, which provides ‘City expertise’, includes practice head Carole Hailey, who is ‘a specialist in the IT and internet sectors’, and litigator Matthew Harris, who ‘provides the right advice on every occasion’. Highlights included advising software suppliers to the financial services sector, advising Ordnance Survey on procuring cloud-based technologies, and acting for Avanta Enterprise on outsourcings.
Particularly pleasing is that one of Waterfront’s stated aims is to be an invaluable member of its clients’ management teams; so we are delighted that this has been singled out. Founding Partner, Carole Hailey, said of the Legal 500 entries: “We are extremely pleased with the entries this year. As a niche IP/IT firm, it is gratifying to be acknowledged for both our core areas. Although it is always an achievement for individuals to be mentioned by name, the credit is properly due to our whole team, who are talented and enthusiastic lawyers, and the ongoing loyalty of our clients.”
A recent EU trade mark application for the word mark, PUT PUTIN IN, has been refused by the European Union Intellectual Property Office on the grounds of being contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality. While a fairly straightforward decision, this is a timely reminder…
Late yesterday UK time, it was reported that a lawyer for Twitter had sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg complaining about Meta’s new Threads app. Twitter claimed that it “has serious concerns that Meta Platforms (Meta) has engaged in systematic, wilful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property”.