IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners recommends those it considers to be the leaders in the field: only individuals and practitioners delivering top-quality patent services make the cut. However, even among this elite group, in many markets it is possible to discern a degree of stratification.

While all firms and individuals included in this guide have made the winners’ podium, some are considered to have an edge over their competitors in terms of reputation; we have thus devised bandings to reflect this diversity at the top end of the market.

In the IAM Patent 1000, recommendations in the highly visible litigation specialism are presented in gold, silver and bronze bands:

• Gold – firms and individuals in the gold band are those that attract the most positive comments from sources. We have identified them as the crème de la crème. Their success hinges on reputations established over lengthy periods of time – something which enables them to secure the most high-profile, big-ticket work from the most demanding of clients.

• Silver – these eminent practices and individuals also attract extensive feedback and are renowned for their top-end work. However, the consensus from commentators is that for whatever reason – less specialised, newer to the marketplace, smaller client base etc - their reputations and their visibility in the patent sphere do not quite match those at the apex.

• Bronze – like their gold and silver peers, those designated bronze are highly praised by sources and are among the most competitive in the field. However, while those included in the bronze band are uniformly strong, their profiles are typically somewhat lower for patent work than those of their competitors in the gold and silver bands.

For prosecution - including searches, oppositions and cancellations - and for licensing, listings are not organised by bands. Instead, those featured are listed in alphabetical order. In instances where certain individuals or firms attracted significantly greater positive feedback, they have been listed as “Highly recommended”, to distinguish them from their “Recommended” peers. While we have every confidence in our research, we do not believe that it is currently possible for us to offer tiered bandings in these areas of practice, in which the amount of peer interaction - and therefore commentary - is limited. An exception is the table of patent prosecution practices working at the European Patent Office; the methodology for the gold, silver and bronze bandings on this table is explained here. The firms listed are written about in detail in their home country chapters.

We have also included “Luminaries” – individuals who have scaled back the extent of their dayto- day work, yet remain important figures in the marketplace.

Within the chapters themselves, firms appear in alphabetical order due to the number of tables in many jurisdictions.