CMS strengthens patent litigation offering with partner hire

International law firm CMS is pleased to announce the appointment of Toby Sears as a partner in its Intellectual Property (IP) practice in London. Toby joins from Allen & Overy. Toby’s arrival follows a spate of new hires for the practice including partner Ben Hitchens, who joined in September and Of Counsel Paolo Andreottola in November. 

Toby has broad experience advising on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters in the technology and life sciences sectors. In recent years, he has focused his practice on patent litigation in the technology sector, advising on large scale international matters for high-profile names in the telecoms, IT and software sectors.

Sarah Wright, Head of IP at CMS UK, comments: “Toby’s arrival reaffirms the firm’s commitment to our IP practice and marks the third major appointment for the team in recent months. Toby is a skilled IP practitioner, with vast experience across many aspects of IP law. His experience across patent litigation, with a focus on technology and life sciences, has obvious synergies with our broader client base and will prove extremely valuable as we continue to build our patent litigation practice and strengthen our offering to clients.”

Toby adds: “I look forward to joining the esteemed and talented IP team at CMS and helping to develop the patent litigation practice. The firm’s extensive reach and full-service offering will allow me to offer the highest standard of support to my clients, both in the UK and cross-border. I can't wait to get started and contribute to the growth and success of the team and firm.”

With the arrival of Toby, the CMS UK IP team now includes 16 partners, who are supported by over 130 lawyers, patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys and specialist IP administrators and paralegals. The team is noted by clients for being an “invaluable source of information, with excellent knowledge of intellectual property litigation and strategic overview of the litigation process" (Chambers UK 2022). The firm’s UK IP practice is Band 1 ranked in The Legal 500 UK 2022.