About

I am a UK and European Patent Attorney and representative before the EU Unified Patent Court, and have been working to protect client's technical innovations since joining the profession in the early 1990s. After obtaining a Masters degree in Chemistry from Oxford University, I immediately trained with a firm of private practice patent attorneys in London before moving to the intellectual property department of a US-based global chemical company. After qualifying as a patent attorney, I rejoined private practice with a boutique patent and trade mark firm, subsequently joining Lewis Silkin in 2019.

With a background in chemistry, I specialise in handling patents in the chemical and life sciences sectors. In particular, I advise clients with drafting, filing and prosecution of patent applications, in the UK, Europe and globally, as well as with post-grant oppositions, infringement and validity matters, and freedom-to-operate opinions.

I also have a wide experience of advising on and filing registered designs.

Experience

Patent drafting & prosecution

  • Working with inventors to assess the patentability of their innovations and advise on possible patent protection according to the business needs of the client
  • Drafting patent specifications to meet those business needs
  • Prosecuting patent applications directly with the UK IPO and European Patent Office, and more widely globally through selected, personally known foreign attorneys

Patent infringement & validity

  • Advising clients on freedom-to-operate issues, from 'quick & dirty' to fully comprehensive patent searches
  • Assessing and advising on infringement and validity of third party patents which might pose a commercial threat
  • Representing clients in post-grant Oppositions and Appeals before the European Patent Office
  • Handling infringement and validity opinions before the UKIPO

Intellectual property

  • Preparing and advising on a variety of IP contracts, including non-disclosure agreements, contract research joint development agreements, licensing, and employee-inventor IP issues

Registered designs

  • Advising on and filing registered design applications before the UKIPO and EUIPO
  • Performing and advising on design freedom-to-operate searching

Testimonials

'Paul Williams has been very responsive and understands the sector we operate in extremely well. He has helped us remediate some of our documentation and helped shape our approach.'
Legal 500

Services

Sectors