David Gwilliam

Expertise

David Gwilliam is a Chartered and European Patent Attorney specialising in healthcare and biotechnology, and a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney.

David’s technical background is in healthcare and biotechnology, having obtained a BSc in Biochemistry & Genetics in 2006 and an MSc in Cancer Immunotherapy in 2007, both from the University of Nottingham. David joined Adamson Jones in 2008 after a period working in industry for MedImmune and became a Partner in 2019.

David’s patent practice covers a wide variety of areas of healthcare and biotechnology but focusses particularly on wound care, vaccines, therapeutic antibodies, extracorporeal blood processing, protein formulations, diagnostic assays, and cell culture technology. 

David is also the head of the Trade Marks team at Adamson Jones. David's trade mark practice covers a wide range of business sectors with a focus on medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and he has extensive experience of protecting and defending high-value trade mark rights as well as managing large international trade mark portfolios for a wide range of clients, including world-leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

How do you help clients?

The proper exploitation of intellectual property rights and the development of an effective intellectual property strategy is essential for the success of any business, especially in the fields of healthcare and biotechnology in which it is often necessary to develop an intellectual property strategy hand-in-hand with ongoing product development, regulatory approval processes, funding rounds and a constantly evolving commercial landscape.

I work closely with clients to develop a proper understanding of their needs and objectives, and create effective strategies for protecting their position in respect of both patents and trade marks in order to achieve the best possible outcome that the circumstances allow, whether this relates to:

• working with researchers or marketing executives to ensure that potentially valuable intellectual property rights are identified and applied for appropriately;
• navigating the various complex procedures for obtaining intellectual property rights and managing intellectual property portfolios in a way that maximises their value and ensures they remain relevant to the needs and objectives of the client;
• or clearing a route to market by conducting freedom-to-operate investigations, advising about risks, and dealing with problematic intellectual property rights.

Experience

1. Obtaining numerous European and United States patents in the fields of extracorporeal blood filtration, blood autotransfusion and silicone gel skin adhesives for a leading United Kingdom based medical devices company, and subsequently assisting this company with using these rights to secure manufacturing contracts. 
2. Taking over a substantial international patent portfolio for a United Kingdom based biopharmaceutical company and prosecuting numerous patent applications to grant in parallel with ongoing product development and clinical trials. 
3. Working with researchers at a United Kingdom university to identify potentially patentable inventions arising from their research into early-stage cancer diagnosis and drafting and filing a patent application in relation to these inventions.
4. Advising a United Kingdom based pharmaceuticals company about the selection of a trade mark for a new high-value pharmaceutical product and protecting the trade mark internationally.
5. Advising a well-funded United Kingdom based start-up in the service sector regarding international trade mark clearance and protecting their trade mark portfolio throughout the world.
6. Handling over a dozen interconnected trade mark oppositions and cancellation actions in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe for a client operating in a highly competitive consumer goods sector.