Sunny prospects for SW law firm

Two lawyers from South West law firm Stephens Scown recently travelled to a major intellectual property (IP) conference in San Diego, California - a trip which has helped to strengthen the firm’s international practice.

Ben Travers, partner and head of IP and IT at Stephens Scown, and Tom Moore, IP specialist, went to California for the biggest ever International Trade Mark Association (INTA) annual meeting, which was attended by nearly 10,000 IP professionals from 140 countries.

The event brought together trade mark specialists from around the world, with the opportunity to make new contacts and to cement existing relationships.  The event gave the team the opportunity to keep on top of changes to the law overseas as well as to work face to face with overseas lawyers on existing client matters.

As South West companies increasingly seek to enter new markets abroad and export their products there, protecting IP rights is becoming ever more important.  As well as the EU, major markets for the South West include English-speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa, while Asia is an important market too.

Stephens Scown has seen a rapid uplift in levels of both IP and international work.  Last year, the firm worked on over half of the trade marks filed by South West businesses.  This year is no different, with levels of work up on last year and two to three times the work on international filings.

Ben Travers, head of intellectual property at Stephens Scown, said: “It was a really valuable investment of time going to San Diego.  It means we can strengthen our networks and contacts so that we can serve our clients even better in the future, and help them no matter where their business takes them.”

The firm’s IP team continues to expand.  Last year, Sanjay Raphael joined the firm as a Trade Mark Attorney – making Stephens Scown one of only a handful of firms in the region to have one – while Joanna Conboye is the only IP specialist and litigator based in Truro.

Stephens Scown has 50 partners and over 270 staff across its offices in Exeter, Truro and St Austell. For more information visit www.stephens-scown.co.uk