Caitlin Heard
Caitlin is an intellectual property litigator and solicitor advocate specialising in multijurisdictional patent litigation. She has acted on several ground-breaking cases, including one of the earliest cases in the UK dealing with Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and FRAND licensing. She has considerable experience providing strategic counsel and coordination of international patent litigation strategy.
Caitlin has acted on a number of high profile pharmaceutical and technology disputes across a broad range of industries including telecommunications, information security, mobile banking and ticketing, quantum computing, construction, medical devices, and biotech. Caitlin has represented clients in front of the General Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, IP Enterprise Court and UKIPO.
Caitlin has particular expertise advising clients on their IP strategy in respect of SEPs and FRAND licensing. She has also written academically on this subject, having co-authored a textbook chapter in “Intellectual Property in Electronics and Software” (published by Globe Law and Business), entitled “Standard setting, competition law and FRAND licensing in Europe”.
She is equally well placed to advise clients in the life sciences sector, where she has acted for clients on product launch strategy and regulatory exclusivity, and has experience providing strategic advice to challenge decisions of regulatory bodies including the MHRA and EMA.
Caitlin is ranked as a “Next Generation Partner” in the 2020 Legal 500 for Intellectual Property: Patents. She is also recognised as an ‘IP Trailblazer’ in World Intellectual Property Review’s Influential Women in IP 2020, and sits on the editorial board of the Patent Lawyer Magazine.