Dr. Jonathan Cornthwaite

Consultant

IP & Commercial
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Expertise

Jonathan specialises in intellectual property law including copyright, trade marks, databases, designs, domain names and confidential information; information technology law, including the licensing of software; commercial law including e-commerce law; data protection law and UK and EU competition law, including in particular anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominance.

Recent Experience

  • Making English legal history by winning the first-ever appeal against a decision of the Company Names Tribunal.
  • Advising on the valuation of brand names in a high-profile celebrity divorce.
  • Successfully defending a household-name client from regulatory accusations that it had engaged in anti-competitive practices.
  • Advising on the head contract and sub-contracts required for the outsourcing to a client of a major Ministry of Defence project.
  • Advising a client on a major international data protection compliance project involving more than 30 countries on which a US $2b hive-off depended.

Career History

Jonathan joined Wedlake Bell in 1987, having qualified as a solicitor at a firm in Lincoln’s Inn in 1979, and served as a partner there for 31 years, specializing in IP, IT, commercial and competition law; he is now a consultant with the firm.

Jonathan read Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, and his degrees include a BA (Hons) and MA in Medieval History and Law from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Intellectual Property Law from Roehampton University, his thesis having been on the subject of the impact of the internet on UK intellectual property jurisprudence.

Jonathan holds an Honorary Fellowship at the Association of Fellows and Legal Scholars of the Centre for International Legal Studies, sits on the High Technology Committee of the Licensing Executives Society International (one of the world’s largest IP organisations), is a member of the speaker panel of The Society for Computers and Law and of the E-Commerce Law Reports Journal editorial board, and has recently been appointed to a Visiting Lectureship at the University of Bournemouth’s Department of Law. He is a past Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a former director of The City of Westminster and Holborn Law Society, and a member of the Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Organisation, the Society for Computers and Law, the Licensing Executives’ Society, the Law Society’s Competition Section, the British Spanish Law Association, and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

Jonathan speaks Spanish (fluent), Italian and French.

Publications and Lectures

Jonathan has authored, co-authored, edited and/or co-edited nine books (including serving as the co-editor and one of the two principal authors of A User’s Guide to Copyright (Bloomsbury Professional, Seventh Edition) and writing The Internet and Intellectual Property (Monitor Press, Second Edition); he has written well over a hundred articles and monographs; and he has delivered some 150 law lectures around the world, including having given an annual lecture on copyright law at the University of Cambridge for ten successive years.

He is also a Member of LexisPSL’s Case Analysis Expert Panels.

Client Choice - Competition Law Firm of the Year – England

Lawyer International – Legal 100 – 2021 – Awards

Competition Law Firm of the Year 2021- England

Corporate America Today

Mid-Market - Competition Law Firm of the Year 2021 - England 

M&A Today : Global Awards

Mid-Market - Competition Law Firm of the Year 2020 - England

Global 100

The ‘very thorough and responsive’ Jonathan Cornthwaite is 'recommended'.

Legal 500, 2017

News

WEDLAKE BELL LAWYER DISCUSSES PATENT INFRINGEMENT ISSUES AT TRIAL FOR LEXISNEXIS

In this article or LexisNexis, consultant, Dr Jonathan Cornthwaite shares his thoughts on the following topics: Can patent infringement issues pleaded but not adjudicated at trial be subsequently raised atRead more

News

IP rights in XML formats and schemas and guidance on awarding additional damages (Software Solutions v 365 Health and Wellbeing)- LexisNexis

IP analysis: The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) has handed down a judgment on litigation over a suite of computer software involving mental health self-help tools. At issue were notRead more

News

Suing for infringement of a descriptive trademark isn’t easy (Easygroup v Easylife)

IP analysis: This is the latest in the series of reported English court rulings on the so-called ‘easy+’ portfolio of trade marks. This case was brought in attempt to preventRead more

News

Fight for a deal is getting more competitive – The Times 28/02/2019

The article was originally published by The Times on 28 February 2019. Asda-Sainsbury’s CMA decision shows that fight for a deal is getting more competitive Jonathan Cornthwaite’s comments are mentionedRead more

Bulletins

Keep taking the tablets: Flynn Pharma v DrugsRUs

This article summarises a recent trade mark judgment in the English High Court illustrating the legal problems that can arise when branded goods are traded and/or advertised across the internalRead more

News

IP & Commercial Partner, Jonathan Cornthwaite, co-authors a new book on Copyright

Jonathan Cornthwaite, Partner in our IP & Commercial team, has co-authored a new book, entitled A User’s Guide to Copyright (Seventh Edition).  The book has been described by it’s publishers, Bloomsbury, as “oneRead more

Bulletins

Price comparison websites – 8 out of 10, but could do better

From the consumer standpoint, price comparison websites save time and effort by simplifying the tiresome task of shopping around for the best deal. But they can also be very goodRead more

Bulletins

EC Google Shopping ruling may prompt further abuse of dominance cases and private actions for damages

News

“Rights…and wrongs: When collaboration ends up in court” – Jonathan Cornthwaite writes for Bloomsbury Online

IP  & Commercial Partner, Jonathan Cornthwaite, has written an article on the “collaborative minefield” of IP in creative industries, for Bloomsbury Online. Jonathan, who recently co-authored a book entitled “Copyright:Read more

Bulletins

A WILD USE CHASE: Recent UK and EU judgements on trade mark use

A stream of recent rulings from both UK and EU courts has demonstrated how crucial evidence of trade mark use – or lack of such evidence – can be toRead more

Bulletins

Competition law – the temperature rises

Businesses often complain that competition law is difficult to understand. There’s a lot of truth in that. But some things are clear; and the stream of fines that the CompetitionRead more

Bulletins

Fingers crossed: Is the shape of the KIT-KAT bar registrable as a trade mark?

It has long been possible to seek the registration of (inter alia) “the shape of goods or of their packaging” as a trade mark both in the UK and inRead more

Bulletins

Think before you link!: When does unauthorised hyperlinking infringe copyright?

In what circumstances does the unauthorised posting of a hyperlink run the risk of infringing copyright? The question is an important one, for hyperlinks help the internet to work smoothly;Read more

News

How not to get locked out of your data – Read Blade v Reynolds

The judgement of Mr David Stone earlier this year in the High Court case of Blade Motor Group Limited v Reynolds & Reynolds Limited[1] has received relatively limited publicity. YetRead more

News

One fine day: The European Commission’s decision in the Google Android case

The European Commission (EC) seems to be falling into the habit of imposing record-breaking fines on Google before packing up for its summer holidays. It happened last year when, atRead more