Malcolm Lawrence

Principal Patent Attorney and Managing Director


Nutshell

A lateral thinking, energetic IP problem-solver with a business head.  European Patent Attorney registered to act at the European Patent Office and in the UK Intellectual Property Office.  Certified to act in Intellectual Property matters in the UK Enterprise Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.  Qualified to act in the European Unified Patent Court (UPC) on its opening (currently estimated to be 2022-Q4 or 2023-Q1) – a right which survived Brexit.

Quotes about him

“…an exceptional lawyer…in the very top tier of lawyers I have worked with.”
        General Counsel, US company
“…has a terrific grasp of business in the round, thinks strategically…”
        UK company chairman, former McKinsey SEM
“…amazing ability to see things from another angle, knows how to get results…”
        IP Director, European Multi-National

Recent practice areas
  • Contentious and general patent procurement
  • IP disputes
  • Branding
  • General counselling on IP issues

Read more about our Services & Experience HERE

Malcolm qualified 30+ years ago, first as a UK Patent Attorney and then as a European Patent Attorney.  A Higher Courts IP Litigation Certificate followed in 2001, one of the first awarded.

He set up his own sole practice in the late 1980’s, grew it as managing partner, divested and then started Concerto IP in 2015 after a legal research sabbatical. Trained in the London profession under the late David Woodcraft (“a huge good fortune”), Malcolm is a lateral thinking, energetic problem-solver with a business head.

“This case was scheduled for a 3-day Hearing. New case law came up on Day 1 which I grasped only partially. An idea got me up during the night, and I fixed it in my head.  We were third opponent to present argument on Day 2 against validity of the competitor’s patent. No-one else understood the case law either! But the nocturnal idea proved convincing – the patent was revoked.  A tough way to work, but probably essential to success in this case.”

Malcolm has been involved with a number of IP developments, both at the frontiers of technology and those of the law:

CHEMISTRY/MATERIALS SCIENCE

  • Phase change ink jet printing ink blocks (very early solid ink patents, acting for the pioneer)
  • Manufacture of fodder for farmed fish (patent oppositions, acting for large Norwegian player)
    More ….

LIFE SCIENCE

  • The single block thermocycler from Mullis’ Nobel Prize-winning PCR work (patent opposition, acting for the licensee of the technology)
  • bFGF – fibroblast growth factor (patent opposition & appeal, acting for a world-renowned research institute on an important molecule)
    More ….

 

PHARMA/MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS

  • Paclitaxel in new treatment regimen (patent opposition/UK Court of Appeal, acting for small US innovator)
  • Complex drug formulation technology (patent prosecutions and oppositions, acting for small US innovator)
    More ….

ENGINEERING

  • Pneumatic conveyors (compulsory license application which resulted in a change to Civil Procedure Rules)
  • Ink jet printers (contentious patent applications, acting for major player)
    More ….

An atypical patent attorney, Malcolm has an informal, laid-back manner and a contrasting capacity for intense mental application and lateral thinking – illustrated by the Testimonials on this site and the vignettes on this page.

Previous attorneys hadn’t proved novelty for clients’ patent. I thought if we could show the patent applications cited against us weren’t entitled to their priority dates, a disclaimer cutting some commercially marginal scope from our patent could work. Tough first step, and the disclaimer we crafted at the hearing was highly unorthodox. But it worked, moving us to No 1 in the IP stakes on the technology. He who dares…..!”

Malcolm has been widely published in intellectual property law publications, having in particular been the first to identify Toxic Priority as a very serious IP risk for certain types of patent application.

Testimonials