Gillian is a specialist in international intellectual property law with a particular emphasis on the international conventions governing patent law and copyright and related rights as a result of many years experience gained working successively for WIPO, IFPI and the EPO.
She is an honorary professor at Queen Mary University of London and was the first female presiding judge at the IPO.
Profile
Gillian Davies is a former Chairman of a technical board of appeal and permanent member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office (EPO); consequently she has wide experience of the substantive law and procedure under the European Patent Convention (EPC).
She is a specialist in international intellectual property law with a particular emphasis on the international conventions governing patent law and copyright and related rights as a result of many years’ experience gained working for WIPO, Geneva, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), London, and the European Patent Office (EPO), (Munich). Her expertise extends also to EU legislation on patents, copyright and related rights.
Gillian’s practice concentrates on European and international advice on patent and copyright matters. She advises Blue-Chip companies from the UK and all over the world, in particular, from EU Member States, Canada and the USA. She also acts as mediator in IP cases. Gillian is in demand as a speaker at international and UK conferences on IP and is a Professor of International Copyright Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London.
Gillian is a senior co-editor of the 14th (1999), 15th (2005), 16th (2010) and 17th (2016) editions of Copinger and Skone James on Copyright, as well as the author of several monographs on various aspects of copyright and related rights, including Copyright and the Public Interest, the second edition of which was published by Sweet and Maxwell in 2002 (reprinted 2013); a third edition is due to be published in 2020. She is also co-author with Kevin Garnett Q.C of ‘Moral Rights’ published by Sweet and Maxwell in 2010 [second edition 2016]
For an up-to-date bibliography of books and articles see Gillian’s publications list.
Gillian is an honorary professor at Queen Mary University of London, she was the first female presiding judge at the IPO and is regarded in Who’s Who Legal 2015.
Fluent in French, German, Spanish and some Portuguese.
Career
Gillian joined Hogarth Chambers in 2005, following her retirement from the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich where she was a legally qualified member of the boards of appeal from 1991 to 2005. She was appointed to the Enlarged Board of Appeal in 1996 and Chairman of a Technical Board of Appeal working in the field of physics in 1997.
Before joining the EPO, Gillian was Associate Director General and Chief Legal Adviser of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), based in London.
At the EMEA 2020 Awards, Gillian was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for copyright and related rights.
Cases
2021 – Advised the British Phonographic industry (BPI) on streaming in International law and set the standard for the music industry going forward.
Membership
Deputy Lieutenant of the Preserved County of Gwynedd and Past Master of the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales. (Past Master 2017/18.)
Council Member, Bangor University, 2014-2019
Advisory Board, Centre for International Law, Bangor University
The International Literary and Artistic Association (ALAI), Member Executive Committee, 2006 – 2017
The International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP)
The Association of Members of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO (AMBA)
The British Literary and Artistic Association (BLACA), Member, Executive Committee
The Intellectual Property Bar Association
Qualifications and Regulations
Qualifications
Ph.D, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1997
Professor of International and EU Intellectual Property Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London.
Member, WIPO List of Neutrals, WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre
Accredited Mediator through ADR Chambers
Regulation
Gillian is a self-employed, independent barrister whose practice is governed by the Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales. She is registered with the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales (Bar Ref: 11890).
She has professional indemnity insurance provided by the Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund (BMIF Ref: 2190/053). Please refer to the BMIF website for full details of the world-wide cover provided and the BMIF’s contact details.
Publications
Books
As Sole Author – Gillian Davies
Copyright and The Public Interest (1993) (second edition 2002; third edition in preparation)
Private Copying of Sound and Audio-Visual Recordings (1984)
Piracy of Phonograms (1980) (second edition 1986)
As Co-Author
Challenges to Copyright and Related Rights in the European Community by Gillian Davies and Hans Hugo von Rauscher auf Weeg (1983)
Music and Video Private Copying – An International Survey of the Problem and the Law by Gillian Davies and Michele Hung (1993)
Moral Rights by Gillian Davies and Kevin Garnett Q.C. First Edition (2010), Second Edition (2016)
Copinger and Skone James on Copyright (15th, 16th & 17th Edition and Supplements)
Clerk and Lindsell on Torts (Ch.25 19th, 20th & 21st Editions)
Published Lectures, Studies and Articles
Author of many studies and lectures published under the auspices of inter alia WIPO, EC Commission, Council of Europe, ILO, Unesco, European Patent Office. Regular contributor of chapters on aspects of copyright and patent law to books and of articles to journals and periodicals concerned with the field of intellectual property.
See here for full list
Human Interest
Gillian is a Deputy Lieutenant of the Preserved County of Gwynedd and Past Master of the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales. (Past Master 2017/18.)
Her interests include: Art, painting, gardening and travel.
