Katharine has been a partner at Bird & Bird since 2000.  She is joint head of the intellectual property department in London.

Katharine specialises in patent litigation, with particular emphasis on multi-jurisdictional disputes, and was part of the team acting in the Baxter v. Pharmacia & Upjohn and Baxter v. Genetics Institute European disputes.  Since her background is in engineering, she has a particular interest in the electronic, computer technology and engineering sectors, more recently leading the teams in Storage Computer Corp v. Hitachi (RAID storage systems) and DRS Data & Research Services plc v. NCS Pearson Inc (software patents in the education field).  She was involved in the Stolt Comex Seaway v. Coflexip (offshore pipe laying) from the start, latterly leading the team in relation to the damages inquiry, which included a bid to overturn the 100 year old principle of res judicata laid down in Poulton.

Katharine advises clients in trade mark and design actions, for example, she acted for Nestlé in their action against Unilever in which they opposed the registration of the shape of Viennetta ice cream.  She is also experienced in advising on the commercial aspects of IP work, including the evaluation and exploitation of IP.

Katharine has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from BristolUniversity.  Her final year dissertation was in robotics.  She then worked for Austin Rover before qualifying as solicitor.

Katharine reports monthly on trade mark, design and copyright matters for the Journal of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents and also sits on the trade marks committee for the Institute.  She contributes to the United Kingdom Trade Marks Handbook (now publishing its 26th update).  She is an enthusiastic and regular speaker on intellectual property issues.