Paul Higgin

Paul is highly recommended in the 2016 to 2021 editions of ‘The Legal 500’. He has been in the patent profession for over 25 years and has developed significant patent experience in a wide range of technologies including telecommunications, electronics and microelectronics, semiconductors, software and computer systems, nanotechnology and medical devices.

Paul has drafted over 600 patent applications and is adept at “distilling the essence of an invention” in complex technology areas. For example, Paul has drafted patents essential for GSM, Bluetooth, WiFi and LTE standards and has recently been helping clients with 5G, machine learning, internet of things, digital health, spatial audio and virtual reality.

Paul also has first-hand experience of asserting (and defending against) patents in licensing and litigation, and can advise on optimal strategies for drafting, prosecuting and enforcing standard essential and high value patents.

Originally qualifying at a London firm of patent attorneys, Paul then joined Nokia where he was promoted to senior IPR counsel and a member of the strategic patent licensing team. Paul has actively participated in cross-licensing negotiations worth many hundreds of millions of Euros (Qualcomm, Alcatel, NEC, Bosch, Schlumberger, Samsung, LGE). Paul then joined Swindell & Pearson as a founding member of the tech practice group, which he leads. Paul has personally recruited and trained 10 other patent professionals currently in the tech practice group. One of Paul’s strengths is managing a team to provide consistent high quality, at a reasonable price, across every member of the team. The tech practice group has been commended for its activities in automotive, electronics, mechanics and medical engineering in the Legal 500. The team has also been commended for its “strength in the telecoms and semiconductor sectors”.

Paul has advised and trained clients on protecting innovations near the borderline of what is and is not considered to be patentable, for example, computer software, user interfaces and business methods.

Paul has also been an innovator of a number of strategies that help achieve fast grant and improve international prosecution for US originating cases, that have been widely adopted in the patent profession.

Paul, originally from Belfast, read natural sciences at the University of Cambridge majoring in experimental and theoretical physics. He then took a post-graduate degree in semiconductor science and electronic engineering at Imperial College, London where he researched the manufacture of quantum structures.

Paul enjoys living in rural Derbyshire. He often travels, sometimes to scuba dive. He still enjoys learning and recently successfully completed the Stanford University course on machine learning.