Profile: Morag Macdonald

Life Sciences

Biography: Life Sciences

Morag joined the intellectual property department of Bird & Bird in 1985 having originally trained as a barrister, and became a partner at the firm in 1989. Her particular interests are all forms of IP litigation and strategic advice, especially regarding cross-border strategies. Her original degree, from Cambridge University, was in mathematics, physics and law. Reported UK IP trials in which she has been involved include Mentor v Hollister, Research Corporation's SPC, Reckitt & Coleman v Richardson Vicks, Cartonneries de Thulin v White Knight, Stolt Comex Seaway ats Coflexip and most recently last year Freelift v Stannah, Synthon v SKB, Associated Newspapers v Express Newspapers, Allergan v Merz Pharma, Proctor & Gamble v Reckitt Benckiser, Baxter Healthcare v Abbott Laboratories and European Central Bank v DSS.

In recent years she has been particularly involved in the coordination and running of various pan-European patent actions involving several jurisdictions in Europe, not always including the United Kingdom. For example, the patent litigation Baxter v Pharmacia & Upjohn/Genetics Institute (in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and before the ICC), NovoNordisk v DSM (in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany), between GlaxoWellcome and Hoffman la Roche (in Belgium and Germany), JCB v Manitou (in the UK and France), and Halliburton v Smith International (in the UK and Italy).

She is joint head of the international intellectual property group at Bird & Bird. She has contributed to a number of publications including the "Enforcement" chapter in the Community Trade Marks Handbook produced by ITMA and CIPA. Morag is an associate member of the British Computer Society and the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents as well as the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and is a member of the Licensing Executives Society.

Other Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas