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  • Chris Thornham
Chris Thornham
Chris Thornham

Chris Thornham

Partner

  • London UK
Contact Me Today
+44 20 7300 4817
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Featured award

Managing Intellectual Property – IP Stars 2024

Patent star

Scroll to featured award

Chris is an award-winning lawyer specialising in patents and technical disputes. He works with clients across the life sciences, engineering, and telecoms sectors.

He advises clients on freedom to operate, product launch, patent litigation, and licensing strategies including FRAND licence disputes. He's acted in over 20 English patent trials and appeals, as well as numerous arbitration cases.

Chris advises on strategy and the coordination of multi-jurisdictional patent advice and litigation. He helps clients win infringement/validity disputes and to navigate through the remedies and relief available including interim and final injunctions, financial compensation claims, destruction of infringing products, modification of products, court declarations, publicity orders and costs awards.

Chris has a strong background in natural sciences and multi-jurisdictional patent disputes. Before practising law, Chris graduated with a degree in natural sciences, specialising in experimental physics. In his early career, he also gained experience working in Washington DC and California. 

He speaks and writes regularly on patent issues.

Expertise

Services and Groups

Patents & innovation
Disputes & investigations
Commercial & consumer contracts
Competition, EU & trade
Information technology
Multi-service
Resolving patents & know-how disputes
Commercial disputes
Contractual, technology, data and IP due diligence in M&A transactions
IP-related competition law
International arbitration
IP disputes
Product liability & product safety
Technology disputes
Telecommunications
Trade secrets
Notary services
Advising on life sciences regulation
India group

Sectors

Technology, media & communications
Life sciences & healthcare
Biotech
Medical devices
Pharmaceuticals

Patent Perspective Quick Listens

A UPC and European patent litigation podcast.

Listen now

CV

Since 2011 Partner, Taylor Wessing
2005 - 2011 Lawyer, London law firm
2002 Working in the US, gaining patent practice
1996 - 2005 Associate, Taylor Wessing
1993 - 1995 Trainee Solictor, Taylor Wessing
1996 Diploma, IP Law
1996 Admitted to the Bar, England and Wales
1993 Called to the Bar, England and Wales
1992 Law Common Professional Examination
1991 Degree, Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK

Career

Since 2011 Partner, Taylor Wessing
2005 - 2011 Lawyer, London law firm
2002 Working in the US, gaining patent practice
1996 - 2005 Associate, Taylor Wessing
1993 - 1995 Trainee Solictor, Taylor Wessing

Education

1996 Diploma, IP Law
1996 Admitted to the Bar, England and Wales
1993 Called to the Bar, England and Wales
1992 Law Common Professional Examination
1991 Degree, Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK

Publications

Chris is a regular invited speaker and author on patent issues
Chris is a contributory author of the book Global Patent Litigation, How and Where to Win, 2nd edition, ISBN978-1-61746-643-4

Memberships & Associations

AIPPI, UK
CIPA, Associate Member, Advisory Board of Informa's Intellectual Property Magazine

Additional languages

English

Awards

Managing Intellectual Property – IP Stars 2024

Featured

Patent star

Legal 500 UK 2022

IP - contentious and non-contentious

Who's Who Legal 2019

Leading individual: Patents

Chambers UK 2018

Leading individual - Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation (Band 4): Christopher Thornham is a go-to for multi-jurisdictional patent litigation concerning electronics, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications technology. A client says: "He analyses things in great detail and gets to the bottom of the issue."

Experience

Acting on a multi-million pound arbitration claim

A medical research organisation in a multi-million pound arbitration claim against a Japanese pharmaceutical company, seeking royalties due on the sales of a blockbuster drug resulting from an R&D collaboration between the parties.

Chris Thornham
Tasmina Goraya, PhD
Gemma Broughall

Chris's news & insights

View Chris's insights
Patent Perspectives Quick Listens - Episode 6
Click here to find out more
Patents & innovation

Episode 6 - Injunctions and proportionality in the UPC

31 March 2025

by multiple authors

Patent Perspectives Quick Listens Open podcast
Patent Perspectives Quick Listens

Episode 3: Forum shopping in the Unified Patent Court (UPC)

In this episode Paul England is joined by Marie Keup and Chris Thornham.

17 February 2025

by multiple authors

8 of 10 Podcasts

Click here to find out more
Open podcast
Patent Perspectives Quick Listens

Episode 1: The impact of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on national patent litigation

In the first episode of Patent Perspectives, Paul England sits down with leaders from our patents group to discuss the impact of the UPC on Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

20 January 2025

by multiple authors

10 of 10 Podcasts

Click here to find out more
View Chris's insights

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