“Sean is our general go-to lawyer at Bristows. Sean is personable, smart and keeps track of the minutiae of regulatory and legal developments, providing excellent training and advice.” (Chambers UK 2027)

Sean is a Partner in Bristows’ IP Litigation team with a focus on trade marks, designs and copyright disputes. He has been involved in some of the leading IP cases over the last decade and has years of experience handling disputes from the pre-action stage, through trial and on to appeal. He is also regularly involved in interim applications before the courts, and has deep experience of quantum proceedings.

In recent years, he has acted for:

• Tesco in the damages inquiry following the finding that Tesco’s Clubcard Prices sign had infringed Lidl’s trade marks. Trial is listed for February 2027.
• Samsung (as co-counsel) in trade mark infringement proceedings brought by Swatch relating to the sale of watch face apps. The dispute reached the Court of Appeal in 2023. The damages inquiry was heard in 2026 and Samsung has obtained permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
• Thomas Pink in a long-running dispute with Victoria’s Secret in relation to the PINK brand.
• Newmark (part of Cantor Fitzgerald) in passing off proceedings, brought by our client to ensure continued use of the name in the UK.  The proceedings were stayed shortly before the start of a 12-day trial.
• Vectura in passing off proceedings brought by GlaxoSmithKline concerning the shape and colour of an asthma inhaler.
• Fidelis in trade mark infringement proceedings brought by Fidelity.
• Blizzard in copyright infringement proceedings and a subsequent account of profits. Blizzard’s claim related to the sale of unauthorised ‘cheats’ and ‘bots’ for its multi-player online games including World of Warcraft.

Sean also has extensive experience in the operation of enforcement programmes to protect trade marks, copyright and design rights, particularly in the fashion, jewellery and consumer goods sectors, having acted for household brands such as McDonald’s.

Separately, Sean has also established a reputation for advising brands and publishers on compliance with advertising regulations, related disputes between competitors, and investigations by the UK’s advertising regulator, the ASA and enforcement action taken by the CMA in relation to consumer protection legislation. He has advised a number of high-profile brands on their response to ASA investigations.

Sean writes and speaks on his areas of interest, including for Bristows’ Brands Review of the Year, Designs and Copyright Review of the Year, the Kluwer copyright blog and LexisNexis. He has contributed to publications including Brand Protection Online and International Advertising Law. Sean also speaks regularly at conferences including the annual White Paper trade mark law conference. He has also presented a number of webinars for MBL including on copyright and trade mark law, and the protection of image rights in the UK.