VS News

Congratulations again to our new Managing Partner, Siân Gill!

We also celebrated the promotion of six talented individuals to partner level. Alongside this, we take great pride in our team’s recent exam successes, a testament to their hard work and dedication. These achievements reflect our ongoing commitment to nurturing talent and supporting the growth of our people.

To further highlight the incredible individuals behind our success, we have launched our Meet our Team here.

If you want to catch up with us in person, our team will be attending and speaking at several upcoming IP conferences across London, the US and Asia. These events offer a fantastic opportunity to connect face-to-face and discuss the latest trends in intellectual property:

17 September: OBN Autumn BioTuesday, Oxford – Ben Beasley speaking on R&D SME challenges.
19 September: INTA 2024 Policy Dialogue: Navigating Non-traditional Marks in Europe, Belgium – Clare Turnbull moderating.
24 September: OBN BioForward, Oxford – Kirsty Dolphin and Sophie Newgas attending.
24-27 September: MARQUES 38th Annual Conference, Stockholm – David Birchall attending.
22-27 September: IPO Annual Meeting, Chicago – Peter Thorniley attending.
9 October: CIPA Congress, Edinburgh – Hannah Auger and Alexandra Seymour-Pierce attending.
9 October: Engineering Design Show, Coventry – Katy Sayer speaking.
16-17 October: KINPA Conference, Korea – Jae Hee Kim Kang attending.
16-17 October: PTMG Autumn Conference, Malta – Clare Turnbull attending. 
24-25 October: AIPLA, Boston – Alex Brown attending.
19-22 October: AIPPI, Hangzhou in China – Simon Taor, Ting Wu, and Nick Barrow attending.
23-25 October: NextGen Omics Congress October, London – Emma Longland speaking.
30 October: Engineering Show, Birmingham – Jack Rogan attending.
6-8 November: Cell & Gene UK Congress, London – Anton Hutter and Charlotte Wilding speaking.
6 November: REAP Conference, Newmarket – Rob Holbrook attending.
12-15 November: INTA Leadership Meeting, New Orleans – Clare Turnbull attending.
13 November: Start Codon Innovation Showcase, Cambridge – Emma Longland and Tim Russell attending.
18-21 November: APAA Congress, Philippines – Pawel Piotrowicz attending.
3 December: LSPN Europe, London – Kirsty Dolphin and Martin Crow attending.

Follow us for regular updates on LinkedIn here.

Firm-wide charities

We are delighted to announce that, as part of our ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility and community support, we have donated a percentage of our profit to our two chosen charities: IntoUniversity and Shelter.

IntoUniversity is dedicated to helping young people facing disadvantage to attain their chosen aspiration, including further and higher education, employment and work-based training. Our donation will assist IntoUniversity in expanding their outreach programmes and learning centres, supporting young people to realise their ambitions, achieve their academic potential, develop vital skills and gain experience of the world of work. A number of our team are also volunteering as mentors.

Shelter is a leading charity that works tirelessly to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and society. By supporting Shelter, we aim to contribute to their vital efforts in providing essential services, advocacy, and support to those facing homelessness and unfit housing, and campaigning to ensure that everyone has a safe, secure, and affordable home.

Through these contributions, we reaffirm our dedication to making a positive impact on society and supporting causes which are close to us.

What others say about us

Managing Intellectual Property in its 2024 IP STARS rankings

Managing Intellectual Property recognised 9 of our experts in its annual publication of IP STARS.

Congratulations to Pawel Piotrowicz, Paul Derry, Siân Gill, Jan Walaski for being recognised as 2024 IP STARS for Patents and David Birchall for his recognition of 2024 IP STARS for Trade Marks. We would also like to congratulate Alex Brown who has joined the ranks of Simor Taor, Matthew Handley, Catrin Petty and Darren Hau in their recognition of Notable Practitioners.

Click here to access rankings and full write up.

IAM Patent 1000 in its 2024 guide

We are pleased to once again be ranked in IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners for Litigation and Prosecution. Our firm has been awarded Silver for Patent Prosecution and European Patent Office as well as Bronze for Patent Litigation. The guide describes Venner Shipley as “an excellent firm and one of the strongest in the UK for patent instructions. Its talented and highly knowledgeable team of professionals have excellent attention to detail, high technical skill and the capabilities to address last-minute deadlines – and they do it all with a smile. They have real depth across the team, allowing them to draw on the cross-disciplinary expertise to address a broad range of matters with confidence”, highlighting a number of our partners based on client feedback.

We are delighted to see thirteen of our partners acknowledged. Alex Brown, Allie Elend, Stephen Johnson, Richard Kennedy, Tim Russell, Jan Walaski, Catrin Petty, Peter Thorniley, Anton Hutter and Simon Taor are recommended for Patent Prosecution with Paul Derry, Siân Gill and Pawel Piotrowicz also recommended for European Patent Office.

Read our full IAM Patent 1000 recommendation here.

Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms 2024 by the Financial Times

We have been named a leading European patent law firm in all six categories: Silver in Electrical Engineering & Physics, IT & Software and Mechanical Engineering and Bronze in Materials & Nano Technology, Chemistry & Pharmacy and Biotechnology, Food & Healthcare. Have a look a the full list here.

These reputable rankings highlight our team’s enthusiastic and innovative client-centric advice and commitment.

Thank you to all our clients and contacts for recommending us!