Merck KGaA v Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC & Anor [2025] EWCA Civ 343

Brian Nicholson KC wins Senior IP Barrister of the Year at the Managing IP EMEA Awards 2026.

Chambers is delighted to announce that Kathryn Pickard has been appointed King’s Counsel in the 2024 competition, announced on 24th January 2025.

Chambers is delighted to announce that Anna Edwards-Stuart has been appointed King’s Counsel in the 2023 competition, announced on 19th January 2024.

Chambers is delighted to announce Miruna Bercariu has accepted an offer of tenancy after a successful pupillage and will commence practice immediately.

Chambers is thrilled to announce we have won all three of the awards we were nominated for at the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2023.

11 South Square, IT/IP Set of the Year

Brian Nicholson KC, IT/IP Silk of the Year

Kathryn Pickard, IT/IP Junior of the Year

We are pleased to announce the arrival of a new member of chambers, Edward Cronan. Edward first came on to our radar at 11 South Square when he was a solicitor, and we watched his move to the bar in 2018 with interest. Since then he has developed an excellent reputation in IP litigation, particularly patents. Edward is already well accustomed to working alongside the members of chambers, having been led by members of 11 South Square in cases such as Phillip Morris v RAI, Commscope v SoliD, Carku v NOCO, and AIM Sport v Supponor. Edward’s profile can be accessed here.

You can contact his clerks by telephone on 020 7405 1222 or by email at [email protected]

University Inventions: When is a student a consumer? Oxford University Innovation Limited v Oxford Nanoimaging Limited [2022] EWHC 3200 (Pat)

This article provides a case comment on the Judgment of Daniel Alexander KC in Oxford University Innovation Limited v Oxford Nanoimaging Limited [2022] EWHC 3200 (Pat). The case concerned the intellectual property rights associated with a compact fluorescent microscope developed by a PhD student at Oxford University. The issues centred on: (1) who owned the intellectual property rights to the invention (particularly focusing on s.39 of the Patents Act 1977); (2) whether PhD students should benefit from Consumer Protection; and (3) where such protection was warranted, the fairness of intellectual property related provisions within PhD contracts.

It was the first time issues such as these had come before the UK courts, and as such the Judge engaged with all relevant authorities in depth. The case provides takeaways for anyone conducting collaborative research at higher education facilities. Particularly for anyone entering into or writing the terms individuals are engaged / contracted under as these circumstances of their employment / engagement may well determine who is able to realise the benefits of any commercially viable inventions.

By Seaghan Davey

Vol 19 Issue 2 BSLR

Chambers is pleased to announce that Michael Silverleaf has been called to the Irish Bar and has appeared in that role as part of a team representing Bristol-Myers Squibb in the Irish High Court before Barrett J. The trial took place in July 2023 and concerned an attack on the validity of BMS’s Irish patent for the blockbuster anticoagulant, apixaban, marketed under the brand name Eliquis. The litigation is one of a number of cases brought by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries across Europe and around the world seeking to invalidate patents for this product. Michael presented the technical case for BMS. Judgment is expected in the autumn.

Michael was instructed by WilmerHale in London and McCann Fitzgerald in Dublin and appeared with Michael Howard SC, Yvonne McNamara SC and Paul Coughlan BL.

Chambers is delighted to announce that Lionel Bently has been made an Honorary King’s Counsel.

Honorary KCs are awarded to those who have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales, outside practice in the courts.

Lionel Bently is a universally respected professor of intellectual property law at the University of Cambridge. He was nominated for his publications which rank among the most influential texts in intellectual property law and for playing a crucial role in influencing intellectual property law in this jurisdiction and beyond.