How I can help your business

• Advise on IP strategy and portfolio management to support commercial objectives
• Guide you through the filing and prosecution of registered design applications
• Represent you before the UKIPO and EPO, including in examination, opposition and appeal proceedings

Overview & Expertise

Matthijs Branderhorst is a Chartered (UK) and European Patent Attorney and UPC Representative. His practice covers patent and design matters, including representation in examination, opposition and appeal proceedings before the EPO. He also advises on IP strategy and portfolio management, helping clients to align their intellectual property with commercial and transactional objectives.

Matthijs has particular expertise in representing US-based companies before the UKIPO and EPO and regularly visits the US.

Matthijs has a strong technical background in physics. He holds an MSc from Leiden University and a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where his research in atomic and laser physics focused on quantum computation and was published inScience. He subsequently worked as a post-doctoral research associate in Oxford on optical interactions in novel nanomaterials, and spent a year at Philips Research working on medical imaging technologies.

Originally from the Netherlands, Matthijs is fluent in Dutch and maintains many professional relationships there, supporting cross-border collaboration for clients.

Matthijs is Co-Chair of the AIPLA Design Rights Committee International Policy & Practice Subcommittee. In his capacity of Co-Chair, he represents AIPLA at the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Matthijs is contributing to an updated Joint Recommendation for design protection for Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). The updated Joint Recommendation is intended to internationally harmonise design legislation for the protection of GUIs.

Matthijs splits his time between the Birmingham and Oxford offices.

Client Work & Case Experience

• Advised on the development of an IP strategy and portfolio for a large corporate client, supporting their preparation for acquisition
• Advised on building IP portfolios to support valuation and investment readiness for multiple start-ups and spin-outs
• Represented a client in the medical technology sector in complex multi-party opposition proceedings before the EPO