Profile
Prior to coming to the Bar, Jonathan gained joint honours in Chemistry and Law at the University of Bristol. He then undertook an LL.M (distinction) at Georgetown University in Washington DC focusing on US Intellectual Property, Antitrust and Private International Law. During his studies Jonathan received an award for receiving the overall highest mark in Law, as well as prizes for finishing first in Intellectual Property, Private International Law, Advanced Contract and Tort.
After successfully passing the New York Bar exam in 2007 he worked for 2 years as a US Attorney at the US firm Mayer Brown. Whilst at Mayer Brown he worked in the Intellectual Property group and spent time on secondment at Rentokil Initial PLC and Sega (Europe) Ltd. When on secondment in-house he was involved in a wide range of general commercial and intellectual property law matters.
Shortly after accepting tenancy at Hogarth, Jonathan spent 5 months seconded to Powell Gilbert LLP where he worked on a number of cases, but primarily on the Apple v HTC smartphone litigation.
Due to his dual US/UK qualification, Jonathan is developing a significant cross-border practice in matters where there is an overlap between US and UK law. Jonathan is currently one of the barristers representing the claimants in the phone-hacking litigation against the News of the World.
In 2012 Jonathan was awarded the national AIPPI best young contributor prize for his work in relation to the harmonisation of design laws.
Career
Jonathan specialises in Intellectual Property but his practice includes broader aspects of Chancery law. His experience includes patent litigation (UK and EPO), trade marks, passing off, copyright, design right, confidential information, defamation, privacy and general contractual. He has also been involved in a significant number of ex parte search orders and freezing injunctions.
Jonathan regularly appears in the High Court, in the Patents County Court and the Trade Mark Registry and advises clients ranging from charities through to multi-national corporations.
Jonathan is a guest lecturer at the University of Strasbourg where he lectures on UK patent litigation. He also lectures for CIPA on their Basic Litigation Skills Course and their Patent Attorney Litigation Course. He has recently written articles for the CIPA Journal and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice.
Jonathan is regularly asked to give talks and seminars on a wide range of IP and international IP matters. Recent topics include the ‘Patents County Court – Two Years On’, ‘Parallel Imports after Oracle v M-Tech’ and ‘Apple v The World – A Review of the Global Smartphone Wars’.
Cases
Jonathan has been involved in a number of significant cases, including:
Lucasfilm v Ainsworth [2011] UKSC 39 The leading copyright case in the Supreme Court on whether or not a Star Wars Stormtrooper outfit was a sculpture. The case also decided that US copyright claims could be heard in the English courts.
Apple v HTC [2012] EWHC 1789 (Pat) Expedited patent trial involving four patents owned by Apple that relate to smartphones and touch screen technology.
Datacard v Eagle Technologies [2011] EWHC 244 (Pat) Patent and trade mark case over the sale of third party printer ink cartridges.
Steve Coogan v News Group Newspapers [2011] EWHC 349 (Ch) Case on the scope of the privilege against self-incrimination as part of the ongoing phone-hacking saga involving News of the World. The Supreme Court upheld the first instance decision.
Suh v Ryu [2012] EWPCC 20 The first successful soft IP ex parte freezing injunction in the Patents County Court.
Temple Island v New English Teas [2012] EWPCC 1 Copyright infringement in photographs of the well-known red London bus going over Westminster Bridge.
Sandy Lane Hotel v Woods (unreported) Successful interim injunction against a third party travel agent for passing off and trade mark infringement.
Many other cases in which Jonathan was involved settled on confidential terms before or during trial and he has also observed proceedings at the UKIPO and the European Patent Office in Munich.
Membership
Intellectual Property Bar Association
Chancery Bar Association
Competition Law Association
New York State Bar Association
Qualifications and Regulations
Qualifications
BSC (Joint Honours, Chemistry and Law), 2006 Bristol University
LLM (Distinction), 2007 Georgetown University
Called to the Bar, Inner Temple, 2009
New York Bar, 2008
Human interest
Jonathan regularly plays hockey and also enjoys skiing and squash. Having lived in Washington DC, he has a keen interest in US politics and history.