Intellectual Property Law Seminar 2026

Introduction

The RSC Law Group will be holding its annual and highly popular IP law seminar on Monday, 5 October 2026 from 12:15 pm at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BA. Our excellent speakers will be discussing recent high-profile law and practice developments in the world of intellectual property (IP), including areas of law where IP plays an important role.

This year we are excited to announce an extended programme including a keynote talk from the Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury.

Programme

The programme will be as follows:

12:15 – 1:00 pm   Lunch and Registration

1:00 – 2:30 pm     Speakers

2:30 – 3:00 pm     Coffee break and networking

3:00 – 4:30 pm     Speakers

4:30 – 5:00 pm     Coffee break and networking

5:00 – 6:00 pm     Speakers

6:00 – 7:00 pm     Keynote

7:00 – 8:00 pm     Drinks reception and finger buffet

Talks are planned on the following provisional topics:

Richard Cooke (Elkington + Fife) – EPO case law update

Chris Thomas (Appleyard Lees) – Plant varieties

Charlotte Jones (Viatris) – Changes to exclusivity under the EU pharmaceutical reforms

Amanda Murphy (Finnegan) – US practice update

Sophie Lawrance (Bristows) – Competition law: the intersection with patenting strategy

Amanda Ebbutt (Winston Taylor) – Infringement claims in the UPC - the patentee's procedural toolkit

Christopher Sharp (Pinsent Masons) – Doctrine of equivalence in pharmaceutical cases

Geoffrey Pritchard KC (Three New Square) – Challenges in AI and IP: where we are today, and where we may be going next

Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (One Essex Court) – Some current issues in law and science

The seminar will be highly relevant to practitioners as well as anyone interested in Intellectual Property and its role in chemical, pharmaceutical and related fields. The seminar is also open to non-members, so please do circulate details to any colleagues and contacts who may be interested.

We are grateful to our sponsors ANAQUA® and PatWorld for supporting this year’s seminar.

Registration Fees:

£85 RSC member

£100 Non-member

£25 RSC student member*

* RSC student membership costs £25 for one year. Student membership costs are waived for all undergraduate students in the UK and Ireland and at all RSC-accredited institutions internationally. Use the code CATALYST100 at checkout for free student membership. For further information regarding student membership, please refer to the RSC’s membership site.

Travel bursaries

This year travel bursaries are available to cover reasonable costs for travelling to the event (e.g. train fares) for those who may need them, capped at £100 per bursary. If you would like to be considered for a travel bursary for the cost of travelling to this event, then please email the committee at [email protected] providing a brief reason by 28 September 2026. Travel bursaries will be awarded on a case-by-case basis.

Accessibility

The event is located in the RSC building at the historic Burlington House. The RSC can provide a mobile ramp to access the building. Toilet facilities including an accessible toilet are on ground level and a lift provides access to the first floor where the Library is located. A hearing loop is available in the Library. The registration page has a section to indicate accessibility requirements, but please feel free to contact us separately via the link below to indicate these. Should you have any other accessibility requirements then please contact us and we will work with the RSC to determine how we can help.

Join us

You can join the RSC as a legal professional and there are several interest groups for those working outside the lab. You do not need a chemical sciences degree to be an affiliate member of the RSC. Please see the RSC's membership site for further details. Please note the RSC will need to have processed your membership application before registering for this event for the RSC discount to apply.