Elkington and Fife LLP

We work inside the business of ideas. This means we combine a deep knowledge of intellectual property with a clear understanding of the commercial issues that go with it. It's an approach that sets us apart from our competitors and equips us to tackle a diverse range of business challenges for our clients.

You may be seeking to protect your ideas to gain a competitive edge or to prevent others' rights from threatening your business ? whatever the situation, our well-respected team is here to provide direct advice that you can act on and which is tailored to your business. And thanks to our size, you can expect your work to have a greater degree of partner input than you might receive at larger IP firms. Ultimately, our goal is to put you first and enable you to make the best-informed commercial decisions.
Who we are

We are a firm of patent and trade mark attorneys based in Holborn, central London, and Sevenoaks in Kent. In 2017, we opened our first international office, in Munich.

Established in 1927, we are proud of our long-standing reputation for delivering high-quality IP services to our clients.

Carefully recruiting from academia, in-house departments and private practice firms, we have built a team of IP professionals with excellent legal knowledge and an acute commercial awareness. Crucially, we understand that it is always business imperatives which drive our clients' need for IP services.

We are consistently recognised for excellence ? the Legal 500, for example, cites our "outstanding team" ? and we pride ourselves on giving our clients the reassurance that comes from knowing their business interests are in safe hands.
What we do

Elkington + Fife's team has an unparalleled command of all aspects of IP. The bulk of our work is focused on patent and trade mark protection, but we are also known for advising on other types of IP, such as supplementary protection certificates, plant variety rights, registered designs, domain names and copyright protection.

In the area of patents, we are recognised for our high-quality drafting and prosecution services. One of our blue chip clients recently commented, "Elkington and Fife has excellent contacts with both our inventors and our IP department, and your prices are considered to be among the best prices offered in the market". Another industry leading name uses our advice on patent protection for software inventions in their global drafting guidelines.

Our work in patent oppositions and freedom to operate issues is equally well-known. For example, the Legal 500 recognises us as having "a strong opposition and appeal proceedings practice".

Our trade mark team is led by Chris McLeod, a well-respected practitioner and former president of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA). He has a silver ranking from WTR1000, which commented, "[he is] a registered trademark attorney with accomplishments spanning three decades on his CV; with all that experience, he's a quick study on even the most complex matters".

Perhaps most importantly, whatever the nature of the brief we make sure our advice is tailored to your business whether you are on a tight budget, require fixed-fee arrangements or are looking for a more comprehensive, ongoing service.
Our clients

Our wide-ranging portfolio of clients is made up of entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses, universities, contract research institutes and corporate clients including world-leading blue chip companies.

Due to the breadth of our team's expertise, we are able to advise clients from a variety of technology sectors. We have particular experience in aeronautics, automobiles, electronics, engineering, entertainment, film & TV, financial services, FMCG, food, beverages & confectionary, insurance, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, publishing, software & hardware and tobacco.

To learn more about our work in these areas, please read our case studies.

Practice Areas	No. of Attorneys
Health Care	1
Intellectual Property - General	1
IP - Trademark/Copyright	3