Daniel Kelly

Danny is an associate in our Intellectual Property team, with a specific focus on contentious intellectual property matters.

He advises clients on the full spectrum of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade marks, designs, and copyright. Danny has particular experience advising clients in the retail, engineering, brewing, education, technology, medical devices, online and social media, and IT sectors.

Danny’s work typically involves advising on, drafting and responding to cease and desist letters, settlement agreements, trade mark oppositions, revocations and cancellations, and preparing legal proceedings (acting for both claimants and defendants).

He has enjoyed recent success in the courts, including in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (Claydon Yield-O-Meter v Mzuri [2021]) and the High Court (Coloplast v Salts [2021]). He also has experience in advising on and preparing cases to be heard at the UK Intellectual Property Office Trade Mark Tribunal, and the Nominet UK Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service.

Danny has been recognised as an ‘associate to watch’ for Intellectual Property work in the Midlands in the Chambers UK Guide and as a ‘key lawyer’ in the Legal500 Rankings. He is part of the IP team in Birmingham which won the MIPS IPEC Firm of the Year Award 2022, and which is ranked by both Chambers and Legal500 in the Midlands for intellectual property work.

Danny has completed the Oxford University Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law, attaining a merit grade. He is also a contributor to publications including Lawyer Monthly and provides external webinars on IP topics of interest including through MBL Webinars.

Outside of work, Danny is a keen football, music, beer and film fan – all of which being closely linked to intellectual property rights (and disputes).

Recent Cases of Note:

Trade Marks, Passing Off, Copyright & Designs:
• Advising a charity in relation to a copyright claim brought against it in relation to the contents of an marketing video.
• Acting for a market leading building materials manufacturer in relation to enforcing its brand and trade marks against competitors.
• Acting for a global market leading cleaning technology manufacturer in relation to enforcing its brand and trade marks against competitors.
• Acting for a dairy-free products brand in relation to enforcing its trade marks against a key competitor launching a new product.
• Delorean Motor Company v Mr Benjamin Granger (also known as “Tyler DeLorean”) [IP-2021-000108] – representing the claimant in successfully obtaining summary judgment in a claim for trade mark infringement.
• Primatel Limited v Double Dragon International Limited [IP-2020-000146] – representing the claimant in a claim for passing off, copyright infringement and invalidity of a trade mark.

Patents:

• Don & Low Limited v Building Product Design Limited [IP-2022-000095] – representing the claimant in patent infringement proceedings in the IPEC.
• Niftylift Limited v JLG Industries (United Kingdom) Limited [IP-2021-000099] – representing the claimant in patent infringement proceedings in the IPEC.
• Coloplast A/S v Salts Healthcare Limited [HP-2019-000012] – representing the successful defendant in relation to defending a claim for patent infringement, where the Judge found the patent invalid over the prior art cited in our counterclaim – Judgment at [2021] EWHC 107 (Pat)
• Claydon Yield-O-Meter Ltd v Mzuri Ltd [IP-2018-000045] – representing the successful defendant in relation to a claim for infringement of two patents, with a notable winning argument relating to the invalidity of the patent due to a prior use – Judgments at [2021] EWHC 1007 (IPEC) and [2021] EWHC 1322 (IPEC).