who we are

Virtuoso Legal is a niche legal firm specialising in all forms of legal advice connected to Intellectual Property (IP). We are a truly virtuoso practice.

We advise clients on:

• IT agreements such as software licensing, commissioning agreements, escrow agreements
• IP Litigation
• Commercialising brand names and creative works
• Patents - from advice on filing through to protection
• Misuse of Confidential information
• Database rights
• Direct copying and reproduction of copyright images, data, software, photographs and text.
• Sale, Exploitation and Commercialisation of Intellectual Property rights generally
• Defamation
• Breach of Contract
• Intellectual Property Agreements, for example - Patent & Know-how Agreements, Inventors Agreement, Revenue Sharing Agreements, Co-ownership, Academic Licences, Confidentiality, Software Licensing, Technology Transfer, Media Rights Agreements, Media Licensing Agreements, Agency Agreements and Broadcast Agreements.
• Commercial Agreements, for example - Distribution/Agency, Franchise, Terms and Conditions and Web site use.

Our clients include not only conventional businesses but other law firms, accountants, and insurance companies which require IP advice but do not have the relevant expertise internally.

Many of our clients are small to medium size enterprises with a team management structure. Many but not all are technology companies. Other clients include more conventional businesses with IP related issues such as trade mark disputes, confidential databases / supplier lists, licensed in patents or an online trading capacity. What they all have in common is some form of intangible asset which needs commercialisation or protection. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but it can be a legal minefield.

Virtuoso Legal started trading in May 2007. Founding Principal, Elizabeth Ward, realised that small to medium sized enterprises were not getting the IP advice they needed to protect their assets and so decided to set up a niche practice concentrating on advising businesses on IP. Liz qualified into international law firm DLA Piper in 1996 and has worked for a variety of different large and small legal firms over the past 12 years. Prior to that Liz worked for 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 1983 with a BSc(Hons) in Genetics and Cell Biology. Her combination of scientific training and commercial exposure means that Liz has a rounded understanding of business and technology based businesses in particular.

Liz has been consistently ranked in the top half of the Legal 500 for IP work (intellectual property). She is on the Law Society List of Experts specializing in Intellectual Property and includes on her CV membership of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents and the Association of Trade Mark Attorneys. Liz is currently Chairman of the North East section of the Licensing Executives Association. Liz is also one of the few women members of the Law Society who is qualified as a Supervising Solicitor for Search and Seizure Orders. Her leading cases included acting for the University in the case of Cyprotex Limited v University of Sheffield, a software dispute which went to the Court of Appeal in 2003. Liz successfully defended this claim for the University. More recent cases have included acting for a US licensee in the Silver Cross trade mark dispute, and acting for a Pet Food manufacturer in a trade mark infringement matter.

Virtuoso Legal is on the nominated panel for a leading IP insurance company as one of the legal advisors of choice when it comes to IP infringement claims. The firm is instructed by fellow professionals such as patent agents, trade mark attorneys, accountants and other lawyers to assist clients with their IP strategy in company acquisitions and disposals. Members of the firm regularly contribute articles and lectures on the commercialisation and defence of Intellectual Property. We were involved in Europe’s first Intellectual Property Auction on 1 June 2007 in London. We are regularly asked to advise organizations such as Business Link and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the DTI) on Intellectual Property issues especially in relation to start up companies.