Media Mention

Winston & Strawn partners Richard Price and Gareth Morgan, based in the firm's London office, were featured in the June 2012 edition of Legal Business.

In the article "No Quarter Given," Mr. Price discusses why, despite companies' legal cutbacks and the increase of using in-house counsel, the budget for external legal spending for intellectual property attorneys continues to flourish. According to Mr. Price, "market conditions may be tight and in-house counsel may be under pressure to cut costs. However, they are less likely to drive costs down on business-critical work where they will only want to be represented by leaders in their field with excellent track records of success."

Mr. Price, who joined Winston & Strawn in January 2011, is referred to as "one of the most experienced IP litigators in the City" by the publication. He chose the firm because of its reputation for being instructed for business-critical, bet-the-company litigation, particularly for pharmaceutical companies.

In the same edition of Legal Business, Mr. Morgan discusses the creation of a Unified Patent Court (UPC) in the EU and the issue of the Central Division's location in London, Munich or Paris. If Munich is selected, the bifurcated approach to patent litigation – in which infringement is heard and determined separately from a hearing as to whether the patent in question is valid – will become an EU standard.

Mr. Morgan argues that the debate over where the UPC should be located and the potential effects of bifurcation has focused largely on academics and law firms, perhaps partly to keep clients in the dark. "A direct consequence of the current form of the UPC is that it will likely bring more patent trolls to Europe, which will increase litigation costs for clients in the long term," he said.