Business & Company Law

Matthew Rippon

Matthew is an intellectual property and technology law solicitor covering both disputes and deals in a litigation or a commercial environment. Matthew’s specialist area of expertise is IP, which covers trade marks, patents, designs, copyright and confidential information (including privacy). He advises on the identification and protection of IP, its exploitation and the enforcement of IP rights. Matthew also deals with data protection and away from IP, he also conducts general contract litigation concerning technology issues. Matthew undertakes generals commercial work such as the preparation of terms and conditions, distribution agreements and general website documentation. In particular, Matthew is often instructed by Education sector clients to advise on outsourcing deals, usually in relation to IT infrastructure.

Matthew began his legal career as a commercial litigator and progressively developed a specialist knowledge and began to advise on technology and intellectual property matters.

His experience was gained through a plethora of disputes relating to engineering and technology contracts, and later as a result of a series of passing off and trade mark infringement cases. Matthew subsequently joined Prettys of Ipswich in January 2000, where he specialised in intellectual property and technology disputes.

Matthew relocated to the north east of England in May 2003, joining Watson Burton in Newcastle. Matthew’s role there grew to cover both commercial and contentious intellectual property matters. Matthew’s experience includes advising in relation to the following:

* technology transfer concerning desalination technology in respect of a project in Abu Dhabi;
* exclusive global licensing of rights in tram/light railway construction method;
* management of international patent registrations in respect of the aforesaid tram construction invention;
* non-exclusive licence out of rights and know how in relation to the Edinburgh and Mersey Tram Projects;
* sundry other matters including non-disclosure agreements and data
* protection advice.

In addition to the above, Matthew has experience in the identification, protection and exploitation of IP rights, the conduct of IP due diligence on corporate transactions and of advising on a wide range of IP related commercial agreements and data protection regimes. Matthew is one of the regions most experienced specialists in IP and technology contract disputes.

Matthew joined BHP as a partner in April 2007.