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John Warchus

Partner | Commercial and technology | Commercial

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About John

I am a specialist in all areas of commercial and technology law and provide advice to clients in these areas, including dispute management.

I have more than 25 years’ experience in the TMT sector: my clients range from tech start-ups to multinational companies and public sector organisations and have advised a number of household names in this sector.

My colleagues and I always strive to be an extension of our client’s management or legal team as well as acting as their legal representative if they have no in-house legal team.

I often help clients to negotiate and draft complex commercial and technology agreements, covering related areas such as data protection, social media and procurement issues. As a former litigator advising on large scale IT disputes, I am adept at avoiding the pitfalls that so often befall technology contracts.

I am also closely involved with the protection and exploitation of all forms of intellectual property, often advising UK universities and businesses on innovation projects and R&D collaboration.

Increasingly, my clients are from overseas carrying out business in the UK and/or looking for advice on contracts governed by English law. Equally, I am able to assist UK clients who need foreign legal advice through good connections with a range of international law firms. In particular, I am President of The IT and IP Law Group Europe, an alliance of European law firms specialising in Technology and Intellectual Property legal issues.

I have advised the following clients:

Carillion, ASOS.com, EDS, ICL Fujitsu, Canon, G4S, Mouchel, Paperchase, University of Reading, University of South Wales, Mahindra Satyam, Atmel Corporation, and Intellectual Property Online.

Specialisms

  • Technology / Media / Telecomms
  • Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals
  • Education / Universities
  • Retail / Leisure
  • Charity / Not for profit

Memberships

  • Society for Computers and Law
  • The IT and IP Law Group Europe

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John’s accreditations

Don’t take our word for it…

Work most closely with John Warchus, great guy and friend to our company now after many years of partnership. Always provides concise and appropriate advice. We feel confident in the advice received and our legal standing accordingly. His knowledge of our sector is invaluable, he really understands our business and how we operate.

Legal 500, 2024

John was knowledgeable and took the time to explain the complex legal issues. It was a pleasure to work with him.

Chambers and Partners, 2023

The best one who has helped us when it comes to contracts is John Warchus because he takes what we are trying to achieve and make it straightforward without complicating it.

Legal 500, 2023

John Warchus is a knowledgeable, amenable, and thoughtful lawyer. He was very pleasant to work across from and works in a collegiate and collaborative spirit.

Legal 500, 2023

I dealt with John Warchus. He was knowledgeable, understood the IP/tech issues and was very good to deal with. We had a robust but very sensible negotiation – all very pleasant and straightforward.

Legal 500, 2022

John Warchus is a total star. John is the most efficient and effective supplier I think we have. He always advises timescales for projects in advance so manages our expectation from the get-go. He then replies with a fully comprehensive summary of document inclusions, omissions and observations and makes recommendations for alterations to customer NDA’s for instance that enable us to negotiate terms with customers and protect our interests accordingly.

Legal 500, 2022

John Warchus has assisted our user community; which is primarily located in the broadcast, production, media and tech sector: specifically with solution and platform innovators and StartUps operating out of the Hub. His eye for specific need and detail – which is invariably subjective and different – has filled those StartUps with confidence as they move forward. John has essentially adopted a mentor style approach which has proven invaluable.

Legal 500, 2021

We work with John Warchus, partner, corporate and commercial and have done so for a number of years. He has advised us on a range of contract types, for our regular and customised professional software and internet based services as well as on patent and intellectual property portfolios, international patent licensing etc. We find him to be an excellent advisor, generous and responsive with his time and diligent in his advice. It has been a great help to us and continues to be so having the Moore Barlow senior partners to hand on our doorstep.

Legal 500, 2021

John was extremely easy to deal with. He has very good commercial skills and good client management skills; he’s very affable. In terms of what he was saying to the companies, his knowledge of the subject area showed him to be quite clearly very knowledgeable, experienced and very well connected. I can’t fault him at all.

Client

Explore John’s latest articles

Passing off and infringement of trade marks

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How to use restrictive covenants in commercial contracts

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Passing off and trade mark infringement

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The Coronation Emblem: ‘royalty free’ usage and restrictions

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Tech companies preparing for growth

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Licensee successfully argues for an implied term in a Formula One case

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Common mistake and the allocation of risk

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What Is ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance – and where did it come from?

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Can an AI system be named the inventor?

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Supply chain contracts: Are you up to speed with new insolvency rules?

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Brexit

Are your trade marks ready for Brexit?

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Business-contracts-Best-by-design,-not-by-accident

Business contracts: best by design, not by accident

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