Tristan Sherliker

I specialise in resolving intellectual property disputes before the Courts in London, where I am of Counsel in our Intellectual Property practice.

I am a Solicitor Advocate working in leading IP cases and high-technology disputes. My focus is on litigation in the High Court & Court of Appeal, and advisory work to prevent disputes that could otherwise go there. I build close working relationships with clients with a deep knowledge of their business, their needs, and their technology. In disputes, I act in the dual role of solicitor and counsel.

Before law, my background was in biomedical engineering, combining more traditional engineering disciplines (such as electronics, mechanics, materials science and computing) with medical concepts (including anatomy, drug delivery and biochemistry). Technology is still at the centre of my practice, both to handle complicated technical matters, as well as making use of technical innovations to bring cases on efficiently and effectively.

In the field of patents, I have very considerable experience in telecoms and electronics disputes, having acted for and against several major industry patent holders, implementers, and patent pools in respect of technical and FRAND licensing issues. Notable past cases in the UK include Sisvel v OnePlus; Unwired Planet v Huawei; Apple v Qualcomm; Nokia v Apple; and Good Technology v Mobile Iron; as well as confidential arbitrations.

MIP ranks me as a Rising Star, and I was shortlisted in 2024 for their Rising Star of the Year award. The Legal500 wrote that 'Tristan Sherliker is incredibly bright, tenacious, and takes a forensic approach to problem solving... a pleasure to work with', and the WIPR that 'Tristan Sherliker is reported as 'fantastic' on the dispute side'. Clients say they value "not just winning, but really understanding and taking care of what we need along the way", along with "a killer instinct"

I also write speak and present about cases and the law, and contribute to conferences and specialist legal journals including the European Intellectual Property Review and Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, and industry publications, writing about cutting-edge legal issues and developments.

• Recent cases have included:
• Crypto Open Patent Alliance v Craig Steven Wright: (copyright, fraud and forgery) A high-profile fraud case relating to claimed ownership of IP rights in Bitcoin worldwide;
• Lidl Great Britain Ltd and anor v Tesco Stores Ltd and anor (trade marks, passing off and copyright) in the High Court and Court of Appeal, a high-profile trade mark and copyright dispute concerning Tesco's infringement of Lidl's brand;
• Praesidiad Holding BVBA & Anor v Zaun Ltd, (designs, Brexit, conflict of laws), concerning infringement of a registered design relating to a large-scale construction project, concerning interpretation of Brexit legislation and EU withdrawal agreement;
• Niftylift v JLG (Patents), claim and counterclaim relating to patents for hybird hydraulic construction apparatus (settled);
• Fear of God v Kadine (Trade marks, Brexit, conflict of laws): A dispute concerning the well-known fashion brand ESSENTIALS, trade mark validity, and scope of injunctions implemented following the completion of Brexit;
• Rogue Fitness v Bulldog Gear (designs and copyright), acting on a design and copyright infringement case relating to the internationally-popular Rogue Fitness airbike and other exercise equipment (settled);
• Philip Warren v Lidl Great Britain and anor (Passing off), a wide-ranging passing off claim and counterclaim valued by the claimant in the multiple tens of millions;
• NTCQ v Mehdiyev (Trade marks and passing off), a trade mark and passing off dispute relating to misuse of trade marks under a domain name;
• Rothy's v Giesswein (registered and unregistered designs), successfully achieving an injunction and damages for registered design infringement in respect of well-known shoe designer Rothy's;
• Xyfil v Dinner Lady (trade secrets, expedition): defending and resolving a highly complex trade secrets claim against a major UK vaping brand (settled)