Sahira Khwaja

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property

Brand Protection

IP Litigation

Trade Mark and Brand Licensing

Commercial IP Agreements and IP Transactions

Career

Please see https://www.hoganlovells.com/en/sahira-khwaja for further information.

Professional Memberships

International Trademark Association (INTA)

Experience

Sahira leads our brands and copyright practices in London, with nearly 30 years experience, and is co-head of the firm’s Fashion and Retail industry group. She advises some of the world’s most high value brands on how to protect and enforce their key IP assets. She has appeared at every level of the UK courts, most recently in the Supreme Court, in one of the most important trade mark cases concerning online use and jurisdiction of recent years. At all stages of the IP life cycle, her goal is to help her clients maximise the value of their assets, from obtaining the best legal protection, to enforcement or defending clients against competitor challenges. Her aim is to give her clients commercially pragmatic advice that fits the demands of the sectors and markets in which they operate. Sahira also has significant experience advising on contentious copyright matters for clients, particularly in the consumer and media industries.

Languages Spoken

English

Work Highlights

- Amazon in trademark litigation against Lifestyle Equities, defending Amazon’s business models. We advised from pre-litigation to the High Court, through two appeals until the final appeal at the UK Supreme Court.

- Asahi, a multinational beverages company, in relation to the defence and enforcement of its market-leading beer brand, “Superdry”.

PepsiCo in its defence of a High Court trademark infringement and passing off action brought in relation to its use of ARTO LIFEWTR for its premium water product.

- adidas on all aspects of brand protection and enforcement in the UK, including in a High Court action against Thom Browne.

- Mars on its strategy to combat parallel imports of U.S. origin entering the UK, involving proceedings in the High Court against one of the biggest importers of U.S. confectionery.

- Walkers in High Court trademark litigation concerning the packaging of its market-leading crisps products.

- Merck & Co., Inc. in the UK aspect of the world’s largest same name dispute involving major cross border litigation spanning EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, concerning rights to the MERCK trademark and trade name.

- A drinks manufacturer in High Court trademark litigation regarding its market-leading brand ‘Nurishment’.

- Caterpillar on its UK IP enforcement programme.

- Advising on title and use issues in relation to the character James Bond in various film scripts for a major film studio.

- Ford on the IP aspects of its sale of Volvo Cars to Zhejiang Geely, including on complex post-sale cross-licensing arrangements.

- ViacomCBS Inc. on the IP aspects of a subscription video on-demand streaming service, in partnership with Comcast Corporation.

- AXA on the IP aspects of its high-profile digital partnership with ING, which will allow the Dutch bank to offer insurance services through a digital platform to customers in six countries around the world.

- AXA on the IP aspects of the acquisition of an existing book of non-life insurance business.

- HMG on the IP aspects of the Bulb energy provider’s bail-out.