Peter Stretton

Peter is a European Patent Attorney with a computing background dating from the punched-card era of the 1970s. He has programmed in several high- and low-level computer languages and worked in hardware and software research and development for Burroughs and IBM before being retained as an expert witness for IBM’s Corporate Litigation Department in a complex international IP case that lasted over nine years. This involvement with the legal function eventually led to his transfer into the IP law profession.

Due to this technical background, Peter has established a reputation among clients for successfully drafting, prosecuting, asserting, and defending patents across the high-tech spectrum, as well as for invalidating numerous adversely held patents. He has managed oppositions, litigation and arbitration hearings, as well as licensing and M&A negotiations, covering all aspects of IP law.

He was the software copyright policy advisor to IBM EMEA for many years, responsible for preparing IBM’s copyright briefings for industry organisations, think tanks, and a House of Lords Standing Committee. He also appeared as an invited panellist before a cross-party Parliamentary Technology Forum.

Peter read English at the University of Cambridge, and has a further Bachelor’s degree in Technology, specialising in systems engineering, from the Open University. He studied IP Law at Brunel University, passing his finals at the top of his year and leading the winning team in the IP Law mooting competition. He has a useful level of knowledge of several foreign languages, either in written or spoken form, which has proved helpful in dealing with multi-jurisdictional aspects of IP law.

Peter is based in our Cambridge Office.