Lord Justice Birss will open the Summit with a keynote session addressing the tension between legal certainty and rapid change in patent law. Drawing on recent patent litigation cases, he will outline how courts are approaching complex exclusivity disputes and what this means for counsel navigating the current IP climate.
Colin Birss
Sir Colin Birss was sworn in as Chancellor of the High Court in November 2025. He was called to the English Bar in 1990 and practiced in intellectual property law, taking silk in 2008. In 2010 Colin Birss went on the bench, first as judge of the Patents County Court (now IPEC) and then, in 2013, to the High Court. In 2019 became Judge in Charge of the Patents Court. Colin was sworn in as a Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal in 2021 and took up a senior leadership role as the Deputy Head of Civil Justice until November 2025.