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Dominic Adair

Partner – Patent litigation

“The ‘incredible’ Dominic Adair is a clear leader in patent litigation, with peers admiring his wealth of knowledge, particularly when it comes to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.” (Who’s Who Legal 2023)

In the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, Dominic has worked on all aspects of the drug life cycle, from freedom to operate analyses and early-stage risk assessment of generic competition to complex end-stage litigation, SPCs and anti-trust issues. A technical background in the life sciences makes Dominic comfortable handling the most complex disputes in this area. His cases have required him to spend years on the scientific concepts underlying some of the most valuable patents in the world, including deprotection reactions in the synthesis of acyl compounds and the regulation of immune checkpoint inhibitors. But his experience of technology is truly varied, including computer hardware, electronic control systems, petrochemical and mechanical engineering and consumer products, including triple-blade razors, bag-in-bottle beer kegs and reduced-harm cigarette filters.

Dominic has handled cases across the range of tribunals in the UK and the EPO and has coordinated litigation across Europe and the world. This coordination work, for both rights holders and defendants, has been a mainstay of Dominic’s practice for 20 years, enabling to develop the broadest possible outlook on strategy and a comprehensive tactical playbook. A natural team player, he has assisted clients in bringing patent cases all across the world, from the constitutional courts of Mexico to the Supreme Court of India.

Representative UK cases include:

  • Celltrion v Biogen, Roche & Genentech – revocation action in the Patents Court in relation to biosimilar rituximab product.
  • Gillette v Wilkinson Sword – defence of infringement claim in the Patents Court and counterclaim for revocation of Gillette patent relating to connectors for triple-blade razor cartridges.
  • Heineken v Anheuser-Busch Inbev – revocation claim in the Patents Court against ABI patents relating to bag-in-bottle dispensing technology and defence of infringement counterclaim.
  • Innovia v Frito-Lay – entitlement dispute and breach of confidence action in the Patents Court including jurisdiction challenge involving the Eastern District of Texas.
  • Merck Serono v AbbVie – revocation action in the Patents Court in relation to biosimilar adalimumab product.
  • Novartis v Actavis – preliminary injunction proceedings and infringement claim in the Patents Court concerning the scope of the SPC for valsartan (Diovan®) in relation to combination products.
  • Scientific Drilling v Gyrodata – revocation claim in the Patents Court against Gyrodata patents for methods of measuring tortuosity in oil well boreholes.
  • Secretary of State for Health v Servier – defence of £200m damages claim brought by the UK Government for alleged breaches of competition law, including alleged abuse of dominant position by maintaining a patent for perindopril (Coversyl®) that was later held invalid.
  • Tehrani v Hamilton – defence of infringement claim in the IPEC and counterclaim for revocation of Tehrani patent relating to electronic control systems for hospital ventilators.
  • Truck-Align v Deans Systems – defence of infringement claim in the Patents Court and counterclaim for revocation of Truck-Align patent relating to manually-operated ramp assemblies.
  • Whitaker Corp v FCI – defence of infringement claim in the Patents Court and counterclaim for revocation of Whitaker patent relating to impedance-matched backplane connectors for printed circuit boards.

Representative coordination projects include:

  • Assisting a large Swiss pharma company coordinate litigation on the patents involved in several projects, including:
    • Its top-selling hypertension drug across 128 countries
    • Its combination therapy hypertension product across 77 countries
    • Its top-3 product for the treatment of blood diseases across 32 countries
  • Assisting a medium-sized Swiss pharma company coordinate litigation on the patents surrounding its top-selling anaemia treatment, a non-biological complex drug, across Europe.
  • Assisting a large Korean biosimilar maker coordinate defensive litigation during the launch of two antibody products across Europe.

Dominic writes regularly on reported patent cases in the UK, EPO and UPC and is editor of Bristows’ annual review of patent cases. For several years he co-chaired C5’s Pharma and Biotech Patent Litigation Conference in Amsterdam and remains a regular conference attendee and presenter.

Dominic is a member of CIPA, EPLAW and AIPPI and holds office as the Honorary Secretary and Vice-President of AIPPI UK. He also sits on the Membership Committee of AIPPI at the international level.

Credentials

  • MA Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge
  • PhD Zoology, University of Cambridge
  • Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice, University of Bristol
  • Qualified 2004
  • Partner 2014
  • Admitted in Republic of Ireland 2024
  • UPC Representative 2024

Publications

Patent Review of the Year

Read here

What others say

“Dominic is a consistently brilliant IP spokesperson for UK.” Chambers and Partners 2025
“Dominic is a sharp litigator whose thorough approach leads to the quick resolution of disputes. He is very client focused, responding to queries quickly, and is willing to be flexible to adapt to the changing needs of his clientele.” IAM Patent 1000 2024
"Dominic is excellent in the life sciences field, particularly where the issues are technically tricky. He is also very good at coordinating complicated litigation across many jurisdictions." Chambers and Partners 2024
“Dominic is an absolute pleasure to work with.” Who's Who Legal 2023
“The ‘incredible’ Dominic Adair is a clear leader in patent litigation, with peers admiring his wealth of knowledge, particularly when it comes to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.” Who's Who Legal 2023
“Dom and the Bristows team are true experts when it comes to patent litigation. Dom has deep knowledge, is highly approachable and adaptive to circumstances. He is able to dial up or down depending on the situation – presenting equal dexterity in no-stone-unturned approaches as in negotiating pragmatic solutions.” IAM Patent 1000 2023
“One of the United Kingdom’s best-known names in the field of patent litigation.” IAM Patent 1000 2023
“Dominic Adair is a patent litigator and seasoned veteran of cross-border disputes. His primary focus is in life sciences, drawing on his impressive scientific background.” Chambers and Partners 2023
“Dominic Adair is a very good patent litigator.” Chambers and Partners 2023
“A rising star and excellent patent litigator.” Chambers and Partners 2022
“His clients absolutely adore him and he has a great value set.” Chambers and Partners 2022
“Adair’s academic background in natural sciences plays well into his work litigating patents, SPCs and anti-trust issues.” IAM Patent 1000 2022
Dominic’s “competitors describe him as an outstanding practitioner.” IAM Patent 1000 2022
"His [Dominic Adair] work is always spot-on and exceptional." Chambers and Partners 2021
"He [Dominic Adair] is very pleasant to work with, always approachable, smart and pays attention to the detail." Chambers and Partners 2021
Dominic Adair has an "impressive scientific background." Chambers and Partners 2021
"A seasoned veteran of cross-border disputes." Chambers and Partners 2021
"Dominic Adair is a brilliant leader, creative thinker, and very commercial." Legal 500 2021
He is “responsive, highly motivated and invests significant time and effort in order to understand the technology.” IAM Patent 1000 2021

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