Alistair Hindle

Alistair began his career in intellectual property in 1998 after a period working as a research scientist for a Cambridge-based technology company. He qualified as a patent attorney in 2002 and as a trade mark attorney in 2003. His broad technical interests are reflected in his patents portfolio which includes inventions in engineering, electronics, computer software, medical devices and biosensing, and he also advises clients on trade marks and registered designs.

Alistair has particular expertise in working with start-up companies and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the development and management of their intellectual property portfolios. He is very familiar with the life cycle of such companies and has experience of being involved from the safeguarding of core technology to the development and management of a larger intellectual property portfolio. Alistair has seen quite a number of his start-up and SME clients through to acquisition by a multinational corporation. He has considerable experience in drafting patent applications, managing and advising on international filing programmes and prosecuting patent applications throughout the world. He has worked with many companies who have had the role of being the newcomer entering a market space held by established larger competitors, or who are creating new fields of technology and would like to make it difficult for competitors to follow.

Alistair frequently advises on freedom-to-operate and validity issues, and on contentious matters. He has experience of successfully bringing entitlement proceedings before the UK Intellectual Property Office and conducts oppositions and appeals before the European Patent Office. Alistair also routinely deals with due diligence requests, for example, from potential investors. He is always proactive, naturally strategic, and he invariably thinks about the commercial context of the advice which he gives.