Murgitroyd is an international practice of intellectual property attorneys, headquartered in Glasgow, which specialises in patents, trade marks, designs and copyrights. The practice was established in 1975 and currently has 24 offices worldwide, and over 440 employees.
History
Murgitroyd was founded as a sole practitioner practice in Glasgow, Scotland by Ian Murgitroyd in 1975. The practice became a partnership in 1977 and was incorporated in 1993. It is currently a standalone private limited company ultimately owned by Sovereign Capital. Prior to its acquisition by Sovereign Capital in 2019, the Murgitroyd group was listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange, having floated in 2001.
Acquisitions
Murgitroyd has acquired a number of practices since the turn of the century:
2003: Cabinet Bonneau based in Nice, France
2005: Castles based in London, England
2006: Fitzpatricks based in Glasgow
2008: Kennedys based in Glasgow, Scotland and Newcastle upon Tyne, England
2009: Raworth Moss & Cook based in London, England
2013: Patentanwalt Liu based in Munich, Germany
2016: Patentvest based in Managua, Nicaragua
2019: Chapman IP based in Southampton, England
2021: Hanna Moore + Curley, based in Dublin, Ireland, and Dalian, China. 2021: UDL Intellectual Property, based in Leeds, Cardiff, London, Milton Keynes, and Newcastle, England. 2022: Creation IP, based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Most recently, the UK-based IP firm TLIP, based in Leeds and Cambridge, England' joined Murgitroyd in December 2022.
Offices
Murgitroyd has twenty offices in Europe — in the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland — and direct representation rights in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, the practice also has two client liaison offices in the United States of America, an office in Dalian, China and a further office in Nicaragua specialising in patent searching, technical illustration and docketing.
Aberdeen
Belfast
Bristol
Cambridge
Cardiff
Dalian, China
Dublin
Dublin - CBD
Durham, North Carolina
Geneva
Glasgow (headquarters) Helsinki Leeds London Croydon London Central Milan Milton Keynes Munich Newcastle upon Tyne Managua, Nicaragua Nice Santa Clara Southampton York
Industry rankings
Murgitroyd was awarded the highest ranking across all sector categories in the Financial Times 2019 Survey of Europe's Leading Patent Law Firms.
Murgitroyd was also ranked in the top tier of the Managing Intellectual Property IPStars 2016 guide in Scotland, features in The Legal 500 (UK) directory and the Chambers & Partners directory, and has also gained ISO 9000 accreditation and a gold status ranking from the Intellectual Asset Management Patent 1000.