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For more than 20 years, Laurence has been assisting clients obtain commercially valuable patent rights and enforce and defend patent rights after grant. A European Patent Attorney and a UK Chartered Patent Attorney (qualifying with the highest mark in his year), his practice spans electronic, electrical and mechanical engineering. Examples include display systems and holography, audio, computer systems and networking, renewable energy infrastructure, medical devices, and sports technology.
Laurence has extensive experience of building and maintaining focussed, relevant patent portfolios for clients ranging from FTSE 100 and S&P 500 companies through to SMEs and individuals. This includes advising on freedom-to-operate, invention mining (identifying patentable inventions), and obtaining commercially valuable patent protection, as well as drafting and prosecuting applications in Europe, the UK and worldwide.
On the contentious side, Laurence has advised and represented clients in post-grant enforcement against competitors and defended granted patents against invalidity actions. He has represented clients in opposition and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office, and provided litigation support for proceedings before the UK High Court, the UK Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), the German regional courts in Munich & Hamburg and the UK IPO.
Before training as a patent attorney, Laurence worked in the electricity industry.
Experience
- Technetix v Teleste (1). Provided litigation support to the EIP Legal team on issues of validity and infringement in the successful defence of a claim for patent infringement by Technetix BV in the United Kingdom Patents Court relating to cable TV equipment. (link)
- Technetix v Teleste (2). Provided litigation support for the defendant, Teleste, against patent infringement proceedings brought by Technetix before IPEC. The patent related to cable TV network equipment and was held to be invalid on four counts. The case also raised the prospect of a Formstein defence to infringement by equivalents under English Law. (link)
- MeadWestVaco Corp v Montreuil Offset O/053/09 Represented the patentee in post-grant revocation proceedings for DVD/Blu-ray packaging before the UKIPO. The patent was maintained with minor amendments. (link)
- Sonos, Inc. – European counsel for patents relating to consumer electronics, audio and networking.
- VividQ Limited – patent drafting, prosecution and strategy for VividQ’s ground-breaking holographic display technology.
- Unwired Planet – Worldwide prosecution counsel identifying and obtaining commercially relevant patent rights in the field of telecommunications.
- Renesas Corporation – Drafting and worldwide prosecution of patents in the field of telecommunications (including developments proposed for standardisation by 3GPP).
Recent work
- Provided litigation support to the EIP Legal team on issues of validity and infringement in the successful defence of a claim for patent infringement by Technetix BV in the United Kingdom Patents Court relating to cable TV equipment. (link)
- Provided litigation support to the EIP German term in offensive and defensive patent actions in the German courts (Munich & Hamburg).
- Drafted and prosecuted a UK patent application enabling around 80% of an SME’s revenue to fall within the UK Patent Box. With an accelerated process grant was obtained in less than a year.
- Strategic prosecution advice to maximise the relevance of a patent portfolio to client and competitor products.
- Advising a UK SME on building a worldwide IP portfolio of relevance both to their own products and potential competitors. This included analysis of competitor activities and their IP position, drafting and prosecuting patents worldwide.
Published articles
Education
Laurence has a first class degree in Engineering (Electrical and Information Sciences) from Cambridge University. This covered the fundamentals of Electrical, Electronic, Software, Mechanical and Civil Engineering and Laurence later specialised in Electronic, Electrical and computer systems engineering.
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2002
Certificate in Intellectual Property, Queen Mary, University of London -
2000 — 2001
MEng (Electrical & Information Sciences), Cambridge University -
1997 — 2000
MA (Electrical & Information Sciences) (1st Class), Cambridge University
Career history
- 2014 — present
Partner, EIP - 2012 — 2014
Senior Associate, EIP - 2003 — 2012
Patent Attorney, Urquhart-Dykes & Lord - 2001 — 2003
Technical Assistant, J. A. Kemp - 1996 — 2001
Year in Industry placement and Sponsored Student, National Grid Company plc
Awards and recognition
- IAM Patent 1000 2024: “Laurence is a top patent attorney. He combines technical excellence and attention to detail with an unerring ability to see the bigger picture and strategise accordingly. He is always approachable and responsive – no query is too small and no deadline is too soon – which is particularly important when working in a fast-paced and often uncertain tech environment. Laurence is also attentive to budgeting and cash-flow requirements, providing flexible solutions and working closely with clientele to ensure they can confidently continue to grow their portfolios.” (link)
- IAM Patent 1000, 2023. 'An electrical and information sciences engineer, Brown has been helping his clientele obtain and secure commercially valuable intellectual assets for more than 20 years. Astute, technically adept and business savvy...' (link)
- Legal 500, 2023: "I would not hesitate to recommend Laurence Brown as an exemplary patent agent to anyone. Thorough, commercially minded, technically brilliant and an absolute pleasure to work with, Laurence has advised us on numerous fronts, including strategic analysis and filing advice for whole system architectures, full IP audits and budget reviews." (link)
- Recommended IAM Patent 1000, 2022. "Laurence is impressively quick to grasp highly complex and specialised technology". (link)
- Legal 500, 2022 (link)
- Recommended IAM Patent 1000, 2021. "Brown is an adroit portfolio curator". (link)
- Legal 500, 2021
- IAM Patent 1000, 2020. Laurence is "a patent attorney who has been hard at work providing technical support in litigation at both the Patents Court and the IPEC." (link)
- Legal 500, 2020
- IAM Patent 1000, 2019. "Laurence Brown qualified as a UK patent attorney with the highest mark in his year, which should provide some measure of the level of his engineering knowledge." (link)
- Legal 500, 2018: Recommended Patent Attorney
- IAM Patent 1000, 2018. “Brown quickly gains the respect of right holders’ most senior management. He has amazing communication skills and knows how to deal with inexperienced inventors who have little to no IP knowledge.”
- Legal 500, 2017: Laurence is "responsive and diligent".
- Legal 500, 2016
- Gill Prize - Highest mark in the 2004 UK patent qualifying exams.
Speaking engagements
- August 2021
SPIE, Emerging Global Trends in IP in AR, VR, and MR Domains - October 2017
Leeds Business Week 2017, How IP can add value to your business (link) - October 2016
Leeds Business Week 2016, 20 IP Mistakes to avoid - September 2015
3M BIC Seminar, IP RAW – Basics of Intellectual Property and its value to your company. - November 2013
EIP Seminar, The Patent Box: How businesses can benefit (link)