Tim Gilbert
Qualifications
- European Patent Attorney
- Chartered Patent Attorney
- PhD Engineering
- MEng Civil Engineering
Recommendations
- 2025 Legal 500: "Tim Gilbert is super-efficient and understands how to maximise value from IP".
- 2022 Legal 500: “The attention to detail given by Tim Gilbert has been outstanding throughout the last few years”.
- 2021 Legal 500: "Tim Gilbert is extremely customer focused, open to feedback and responsive to requests".
Tim is an IP director with specialisms in both engineering and tech. His main role is to secure patent and registered design protection which meets the business needs of his clients, both in the UK and worldwide. Tim’s clients range from small start-ups to internationally-renowned universities and world-famous companies.
One of Tim’s favourite parts of his role is developing and maintaining strong relationships with clients: he regularly visits clients’ premises in order to discuss cases and discuss important developments in their business (including upcoming products, competitors’ products and market trends). By developing such a deep understanding of clients’ intellectual property and their business contexts, Tim is able to make valuable suggestions to clients about how to manoeuvre their patent applications into more advantageous positions.
Tim’s legal skills extend to complex situations such as infringement, ownership of intellectual property, software patenting, and applying the legal systems of other countries. He can also prepare patent applications optimised for reducing Corporation Tax to 10% on qualifying IP income using the ‘Patent Box’ scheme. For many companies, this tax reduction is worth a significant amount of money.
Tim handles technology across most of the physical sciences, and in particular:
- cars, automotive products, electric powertrains and combustion engines;
- buildings and structures;
- mechanisms;
- trains and rail infrastructure;
- aerodynamics;
- control systems;
- artificial intelligence in apps;
- artificial intelligence in automation;
- apps, software, games, UIs, and other computer innovations;
- smart devices, internet of things;
- blockchain, cybersecurity;
- forensics, defence, and security;
- smartphone tech;
- telecoms standards and telecoms infrastructure;
- VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality);
- machine learning;
- sensing, imaging and photography.
- water and hydraulic systems;
- systems integration;
- energy, such as renewables (inc. wind and solar); and
- aero engines, aerospace.
Tim has a PhD in civil engineering from the University of Birmingham. His thesis is entitled ‘Aerodynamic Effects of High Speed Trains in Confined Spaces’. Testing included firing scale model trains at speeds of up to 200mph past aerodynamic sensors.
Tim also has a first class MEng degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Birmingham, and experience in engineering consultancy.
Tim has received multiple recommendations in the Legal 500. According to a testimonial given to the Legal 500 by a client: "Tim Gilbert is super-efficient and understands how to maximise value from IP".
Outside of work, Tim enjoys spending time with his family. He also enjoys playing musical instruments, playing tabletop games, and teaching his pet parrot new words. Tim is also bilingual and has spoken Finnish as a second language from birth.