EIP today announces the opening of a new office in the United States, based in San Diego, California - becoming the only UK Intellectual Property law firm to offer a US practice.
Phillip Bennett, a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney, has joined EIP as partner to head the US office.
EIP’s San Diego base is its fifth office and the first outside of the UK. The move represents a major development for EIP, which began in 2000 and now numbers 80 staff in total.
Partner Jerome Spaargaren said: “A significant proportion of EIP’s work is for direct clients. Our substantial growth in overseas sales, in the US in particular, during the last three years, was the reason EIP was recently awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2013. Opening a US office was a logical next step, and allows us to better serve our clients locally in the US as well as offer our European patent prosecution services to US clients.
“Phillip comes highly regarded. He brings a lot of experience to EIP and is the ideal candidate to take this new venture forward. We’re excited to have him on board.”
Phillip Bennett is a specialist in patents relating to computer hardware and software, and has been involved in high profile patent litigation in both federal courts and United States International Trade Commission (USITC). He will have support staff working alongside him in San Diego.
Phillip said: “I’m proud to be joining a firm which has such a forward-thinking approach as EIP. In Europe, EIP has built a reputation for its innovative style and range of in-house services. To now be part of EIP’s new San Diego office presents an exciting opportunity to do something genuinely different in the US and European intellectual property services market.”