Swindell & Pearson

Firm overview:

Headquartered in Derby and with five other offices centrally located in the UK, Swindell & Pearson is a regional firm with the depth of expertise found in the capital. The firm has particularly strong experience in high-tech communications and helping clients protect innovations near the borderline of what is considered patentable, in areas such as computer software. Other areas of focus include chemistry and engineering, with specialisms such as aerospace, automotive and batteries.

Swindell & Pearson has established itself as a go-to firm for patent prosecution matters, with a highly skilled team that has drafted thousands of patent applications in almost every technical field, and prosecuted them to grant across the world. Its commercially-focused approach and breadth of technical expertise are sought by some of the world’s biggest technology companies such as Nokia, as well as household-name automotive brands and leading universities.

The team has a reputation for its success in high-value patent matters before the European Patent Office (EPO), particularly related to telecoms standards. A leading IP practitioner recommends the firm as “very professional and reliable”.

Team overview:

The majority of the patent team is based at Swindell & Pearson’s Derby office, with the remainder operating out of the firm’s Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Stoke and Wolverhampton locations.

“Very commercial and easy to work with” Scott Harrison is an IP director in the firm’s tech and engineering practice groups, and well versed in managing large patent families. Harrison regularly appears at the EPO in both examination and opposition proceedings, and crafts patent strategies for clients ranging from SMEs to multinationals.

IP director Paul Higgin has experience in a wide range of technologies including telecoms, electronics, semiconductors and medical devices. Higgin has drafted patents essential for GSM, Bluetooth, WiFi and LTE standards, and has recently assisted clients with innovations related to 5G, machine learning and virtual reality.

Key matters:

• Patent prosecution and standard-essential patenting—Nokia

Nokia is increasingly relying on the firm for matters before the EPO relating to patents with high licensing value in the field of telecommunication standards. The team’s work has included re-writing the claims defining Nokia’s inventions, originally written by another firm, to make its patents more valuable.

Throughout 2024, the team has also seen a significant growth in instructions from Nokia requiring urgent patent applications drafted for new and complex innovations. These often relate to signalling requirements used in 5G (and recently 6G) networks, where the specifications are complex, dense and run to 10,000 pages.

Paul Higgin is the lead partner for the work, with other attorneys that draft for Nokia including Christine Anglesea, Martin Terry and Ian Whiley.

• EPO representation—Valve Corporation

Swindell & Pearson was chosen by US IP firm Lee & Hayes to represent its client Valve Corporation before the EPO. This work expanded during 2024 and included prosecuting patents to grant at the office relating to virtual reality (VR) and handheld gaming. Value Corporation makes the Valve Index, a VR headset, and released handheld gaming device Steam Deck in 2022.

Scott Harrison is the lead partner for the matter.

• European patent prosecution—TomTom

Leading satnav and mapping technology company TomTom has been a client of the firm since 2016. Swindell & Pearson is one of three UK-based patent attorney firms assisting TomTom’s in-house IP team, with the work involving drafting, filing and prosecuting European patent applications for the client.

IP director Martin Terry leads the team for TomTom, drafting patent applications for inventions that involve complicated algorithms.

Clients:

Accenture, Etex, De Montfort University, FW Thorpe, Loughborough University, Nokia Bell Labs, Nokia Technologies, Razer, TomTom International, University of Northumbria, University of Nottingham, Valve Corporation (Lee & Hayes), ViaSat, Vibrantz, The Wool Packaging Company (t/a Woolcool)