Richard Pinckney

Practice Areas

Richard is a litigator focused on patents and the technology sector.

Richard has acted in some the largest and most significant patent disputes before the UK courts. His qualifications as a solicitor advocate allow him to appear before all courts in England and Wales and he is a UPC representative.

Richard handles both patent infringement and validity and has extensive experience in enforcement and defence. Richard’s background in engineering gives him a unique edge, enabling him to navigate technical patent litigation in diverse sectors with ease.

Richard has extensive experience advising clients on FRAND and SEP matters and he has been at the forefront of the legal developments in this area throughout his career, including on the intersection with competition law.

Richard also advises on licensing disputes where patents are a focus, particularly in relation to patent licensing programs.

On nearly all of Richard’s cases he coordinates multi-jurisdictional litigation. Richard also has experience advising clients in proceedings before the EPO.

Highlights of Richard’s cases include the following:

Panasonic v Xiaomi and OPPO – advising Panasonic in proceedings relating to LTE SEPs, FRAND, patent infringement and validity, coordinating multijurisdictional litigation in the UK, Germany, the UPC and China.

Philips v OPPO, TCL, HTC and Asus – several cases advising Philips in proceedings relating to FRAND, LTE and HSDPA SEPs, patent infringement and validity, including anti-suit relief.

Vestel v Access Advance and Philips – advising Philips in proceedings brought by Vestel for a standalone RAND declaration.

IPCom v HTC and Nokia v IPCom – advising IPCom in proceedings relating to SEPs and FRAND, including damages issues and an injunction.

Philips Lighting v Megaman – advising Philips Lighting in proceedings against Megaman to enforce patents relating to LED lighting technology as part of Philips Lighting’s LED licensing program.

Unwired Planet v Samsung and Google – advising Samsung and Google in patent infringement, validity and FRAND proceedings.

Good Technology v AirWatch and MobileIron – advising MobileIron in patent infringement and validity proceedings relating to enterprise mobility management.

Philips v Nintendo – advising Philips in patent infringement and validity proceedings relating to human computer interface hardware.

Sandvik v Kennametal – advising Kennametal in proceedings relating to machine cutting tools, patent infringement and validity

Siemens v Seagate Technology – advising Siemens in patent infringement proceedings relating to magnetic hard disk drives.

Richard is a member of AIPPI (Association for Protection of Intellectual Property), EPLAW (European Patent Lawyers Association) and LES (Licensing Executive Society) and is a regular speaker at international conferences on UK patent litigation and FRAND.

Career

MEng, Engineering Science, University of Oxford

Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, University of Oxford

Qualified 2008

Partner 2016

Solicitor Advocate, Higher Rights of Audience, England

Admitted in Republic of Ireland 2023

UPC Representative 2024

Professional Memberships

AIPPI, EPLAW and LES

Personal

Cycling, skiing, family (not always in that order!)