Benet practises in all areas of Intellectual Property law as well as contractual and commercial disputes, particularly those with a technical or entertainment law aspect.
He has a particular interest in Trade Mark law and has appeared in a number of significant recent trade mark cases including Cartier v BSkyB and others, which established the availability and conditions for the grant of Internet blocking injunctions in areas other than copyright, Merck v Merck, which considered the law on targeting, use in the course of trade and scope of revocation for non-use of trade mark. He also appears regularly in the General Court and Court of Justice of the European Union including OHIM v National Lottery Commission Case C-530/12P, which established the obligation on EUIPO to investigate matters of law in trade mark invalidation actions, and Brandconcern v EUIPO Case C-577/14 P, which established the proper approach to class heading specifications.
Prior to taking Silk, Benet was appointed to the Attorney-General’s A panel of Counsel in 2015, whose members deal with the most complex government cases in all kinds of courts and tribunals, often against QCs. From 2005 – 2010 Benet was on the C panel, advising on disputes ranging from claims for breach of contract arising out of the UK-Russia Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership to claims for infringement of data protection principles by prisoners.
Benet is an expert on classical rhetoric and has a long interest in language. He is the rhetoric coach to the Royal Shakespeare Company and others, an advocacy trainer for the Middle Temple, the author of two novels The Spy of Venice and The Assassin of Verona, and an award-winning performer.
Benet was appointed as a part-time Criminal Recorder on the Midlands Circuit towards the end of 2019.
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