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Dr. Christopher Stothers

Partner

Antitrust and competition | Intellectual property | International arbitration | Life sciences | Patent litigation | Pro bono | Technology |

Chris provides excellent client service and understands the industry well. He is a creative thinker and problem-solver...Chris has excellent depth of knowledge on European patent litigation

Chambers 2023 - IP: Patent Litigation and Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation

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About Dr. Christopher Stothers

Christopher is an experienced patent litigator, managing strategic, cross-border disputes around Europe and beyond, including oppositions and appeals before the European Patent Office as a legal practitioner and disputes before the Unified Patent Court as a UPC Representative. He has particular expertise in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and telecommunications, and is well known for his work on the interface between IP, competition and regulatory law. Christopher also helps clients with other intellectual property, antitrust and pharmaceutical regulatory litigation, arbitration and mediation. He is a creative problem-solver who thinks laterally across the breadth of his practice and has been involved in patent disputes around the world.

Christopher is a Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property and Competition Law at University College London, where he has supervised doctoral students on patent and FRAND issues with Professor Sir Robin Jacob and Matt Fisher. He published the leading textbook “Parallel Trade in Europe: Intellectual Property. Competition and Regulatory Law”. He is also committed to pro bono matters, having taken cases and interventions involving (trans) gender, disability rights and human trafficking through the Tribunal system and up to the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights.

Recent work

  • Pharmaceuticals: AstraZeneca v Teva (asthma inhalers - patents; statins - contract); AstraZeneva v Tesaro (cancer drugs - contract); Alexion v Amgen and Samsung Bioepis (orphan monoclonal antibody - patents)

  • Biotechnology: Danisco v Novozymes (genetically-modified enzymes and formulations – patents)

  • Medical devices: Becton Dickinson v Braun (safety catheters - patents); Heraeus v Biomet (bone cements – trade secrets)

  • Telecoms/FRAND/SEP: Nokia v InterDigital (seminal case); several more recent non-public matters

  • Arbitration: acting as representative and/or arbitrator in a range of non-public arbitrations across multiple industries

Qualifications

  • Solicitor-Advocate, England & Wales
  • Solicitor, Ireland
  • UPC Representative
  • Legal Practitioner, European Patent Office
  • CEDR-Accredited Mediator
  • PhD, Cambridge
  • BCL, Oxford
  • MA, Cambridge

Publications