It’s our people that make the difference

Our partners and attorneys are highly qualified and highly experienced to advise you in all areas of Intellectual Property law. We advise start-ups, SMEs, and multinational corporations and ensure that your inventions, brands and designs are expertly protected.

Our specialist teams cover a huge range of industries and technical fields, from automotive and aerospace and electronics and electrical engineering to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Services

At AA Thornton, we provide a comprehensive service offering to help you protect your Intellectual Property and maximise your assets. By combining the expertise of patent and trade mark attorneys, as well as solicitors within a single firm, we can offer you a customised comprehensive service.

International

Our clients range from multinational corporations, to SMEs, to individual inventors, across a broad spectrum of industries. Our client base is centred in the UK but covers many other parts of the globe, notably Europe, North America, India and the Far East. We also work for overseas attorneys and professional advisers, representing their clients’ Intellectual Property interests in the UK, Germany and Europe.

Latest News


AA Thornton recognised for Client Satisfaction in Legal 500

We are pleased to announce that AA Thornton has achieved a Tier 2 ranking in the Patents and Trade Mark Attorneys category of the Legal 500 UK 2025. Additionally, the firm has been recognised as Tier 5 in both the Patents (contentious and non-contentious) and Trade Marks, copyright and design categories. We are particularly proud… Read more »


Dr Craig Turner and Ian Gill recognised in Who’s Who Legal 2024

Our partners, Dr Craig Turner and Ian Gill, are once again recognised by Who’s Who Legal for their outstanding contributions and client service. Craig is named as a Thought Leader and Ian is recommended as an Intellectual Property practitioner in the guide’s 2024 edition.   Who’s Who Legal: IP recognises patent, trade mark and copyright… Read more »


Mike Jennings recognised in World’s Leading IP Strategists 2024 – IAM Strategy 300

We’re delighted to announce that our partner, Mike Jennings, has been recognised as one of the World’s Leading IP Strategists for 2024 – an accolade he has now received from IAM Strategy 300 for three consecutive years. ‘The IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists’ is an annual listing of individuals who lead the… Read more »


Latest Insights


UK legal update – restrictions to specifications of trade marks

  Pharmaceutical team member Suzanne Power provides a legal update of UK Trade Mark case law This article was published in the September 2024 issue of PTMG’s Law, Lore & Practice   Whilst many in July were enjoying a well-earned summer break, the officials at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) were busy publishing… Read more »


Absolutely Not Registrable: Summer 2024

As we move further into 2024, the UK IPO continues to demonstrate rigorous examination of trade mark applications. The first six months of the year have seen a string of refusals, particularly concerning attempts to register emblems that hold protected status. In this instalment, we continue to explore these cases, offering a closer look at… Read more »


Language Choices to Save Costs in Patent Filings

International patent applications filed using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (‘PCT’) framework allow applicants to select the contracting states of interest for national and/or regional phase applications. The deadline to file an application in any specific country or region is usually 30 or 31 months from the application’s priority date. The deadline for specific countries and… Read more »