David joined Herbert Smith as a partner in 2007 from a leading city IP firm where he had been a partner since 2001.
David's practice has focused on complex patent litigation involving multi-jurisdictional disputes and work involving technical subject matter in the life sciences sector and chemical industries. In addition, he advises clients in relation to trade marks, regulatory and non-contentious (contractual, licensing and corporate) matters.
David has a first class honours degree in chemistry and prior to pursuing a career as a lawyer, he worked in the chemical and life sciences (immunodiagnostics) industry. David also qualified as a barrister before joining his previous firm in 1994. He is recognised by the major legal directories as a leader in the intellectual property and in particular patent litigation fields.
Credentials
- successfully defended Daiichi in a UK patent revocation brought by Generics UK which resulted in a 3 week trial in June 2008. The patent protects "Levofloxacin", one of the world's leading antibiotic drugs, with sales of over US$1 billion per annum
- Abbott in a high value action brought by GSK under two GSK patent licences involving several patent families relating to several different areas of technology
- Pfizer on the patent revocation action brought by Lilly ICOS in relation to Pfizer’s field of use patent for sildenafil (Viagra)
- TKT and HMR (now part of Sanofi-Aventis) in the proceedings against Amgen in relation to TKT’s "gene-activated" erythropoietin product. TKT and HMR were successful in both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in what is probably the largest patent litigation ever heard in the UK
- Celltech in its long-running dispute against MedImmune over the non-payment of patent licence royalties. The dispute involved three consecutive sets of proceedings being issued in the UK High Court, the first and third actions involving questions of US patent law, the second action turning on German patent law
- acting for Sanofi-Aventis, Edwards Life Science, Wyeth, JCB Excavators, BP, ExxonMobil, Air Canada and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in numerous patent related actions
Recently published
International Patent Litigation: Developing an Effective Strategy
Consulting editor: David Wilson, Herbert Smith LLP
Click here for more details
Accolades
"He is very practical and has a good grip on complicated cases,"
Chambers UK 2011 - Intellectual Property
"one of the best in the field."
Chambers UK 2011 - Life Sciences
“brilliant, no-nonsense and formidable patent specialist”
Chambers UK 2009 - Intellectual Property
“a gem of a lawyer - extremely clued-up and intelligent and always courteous.”
Chambers UK 2009 - Intellectual Property
“really fights for his clients.”
Chambers UK 2009 - Life Sciences
“outstanding”
Legal 500 UK 2008 - Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
“'Class act' David Wilson 'is rated very highly in the patent world. He has a calm and astute manner and sees issues very quickly.' He has a track record of acting for many of the big pharmaceutical companies”
Chambers UK 2008- Intellectual Property
David Wilson is "everything one could want from an external litigator." On top of "creativity, reliability and excellent support," he offers "superb technical understanding."
Chambers 2007 – Life Sciences
"a star of the future who drafts beautifully and has management skills to die for."
Chambers 2007 – Patent Litigation
David was a member of the award winning IP team of the year (2005) that handled the Aventis/TKT v Amgen case