Greaves Brewster

Firm overview:

Based on the edge of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, Greaves Brewster is a values-led firm that aims to be a positive force locally, nationally and globally. The firm has a well-established patent practice that is particularly known for its expertise in chemistry, life sciences, materials science and engineering, with a growing portfolio of electronics and tech clients.

Greaves Brewster’s strategic approach to patent prosecution is valued by clients, and the team handles large, global IP portfolios. The firm is a trusted advisor to major corporations such as Mars Wrigley and Moderna; innovative fitnesswear newcomer Gymshark; and universities such as Bristol and King’s College London.

Despite its relatively compact size, the team maintains an impressive success rate when going head-to-head with attorneys from top-tier firms in European Patent Office (EPO) oppositions and appeals. This often involves business-critical, complex matters for its multinational clients.

Team overview:

Offering fully remote working has allowed Greaves Brewster to attract talented lawyers no matter their location, and the firm gets together several times a year for training and socialising. The patent team comprises five partners and eight attorneys, many of whom have in-house experience combined with specialised technical expertise.

Partner Kat Eldridge is one of the team’s top attorneys for contentious matters, and she has a 100% success rate across her eight EPO opposition/appeal hearings in the last 12 months. Her past experience include working as de facto in-house counsel for a major US chemical company, and her key clients include Mars Wrigley, Mission Zero Technologies, KCL and Albotherm.

Another key member of the team and a partner since 2015, Jakob Bumke has particular experience of managing and consolidating large patent portfolios, and has been responsible for technical and strategic input in several High Court patent disputes, as well as litigation in the US and Germany.

Partner David Spinner’s background includes working as in-house counsel at Novartis in Switzerland, and he has managed the portfolios of blockbuster antibodies.

Also a partner at the firm, Lee Chapman also has in-house experience having moved to Greaves Brewster from UK biotech company Celixir, where he was the global head of discovery science and IP.

Key matters:

• Drafting and prosecution—The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) acting through the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)

Greaves Brewster is responsible for drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications for the APHA, an executive agency of Defra.

The team, led by Lee Chapman, has successfully obtained patents for the organisation in China and India relating to its new vaccine against Brucella abortus, a serious disease affecting cattle. This has helped the APHA to partner with a company to develop a new vaccine, and ensures the result of the collaboration will be protected in key markets.

• Strategic prosecution strategy—One Health Ventures

With a creative strategy and a new US counsel, the team secured the grant of an important patent for client One Health Ventures, prosecution of which had stalled before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The matter related to the client’s multiple sclerosis vaccine in the US and Europe. Securing protection in the US was proving difficult, with repeated objections over several rounds of prosecution, but ultimately the case was allowed—a major win for One Health Ventures.

Greaves Brewster’s team includes David Spinner and Meeta Mistry.

• Successful defence of EPO opposition appeal—P2i

This year, the team successfully defended a patent belonging to client P2i, a leader in nanocoatings. An opposition was filed by a Chinese competitor to the patent which covers P2i’s ‘dunkable’ barrier technology used in millions of smartphones across the world.

The team, which includes Jakob Bumke and Andy Evitt, defended the patent at first instance in 2022 and again on appeal in September 2024.

• Opposition in CRISPR field

With a team led by David Spinner and Lee Chapman, Greaves Brewster successfully opposed two foundational CRISPR patents in Europe and forced the patentees to withdraw their appeals at the EPO.

The patents were owned by the University of California, University of Vienna and Emmanuelle Charpentier (CVC). After the Board of Appeal issued CVC two negative preliminary opinions prior to oral proceedings, CVC took the decision to sacrifice both patents, removing obstacles to the use and commercialisation of CRISPR.

Clients:

Ariceum Therapeutics, Cytoseek, GymShark, Elanco Animal Health, Entegris, Evox Therapeutics, Hamlet Pharma, King’s College London, Linnane Pharma, Mars, Merus, Mission Zero Technologies, P21, Novartis, Numab Therapeutics, One Health Ventures, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, ProQR Therapeutics II, Sigman-Aldrich (MilliporeSigma), Theragnostics, The University of Bristol, The University of Plymouth