Leading Scots law firm Burness Paull said it has experienced a 48% increase in contentious intellectual property (IP) work over the last two years.

The firm said it has been involved in more 70% of all IP actions commenced in recent years in the Intellectual Property Court of the Court of Session.

Burness Paull represents prominent organisations including Google, Sky, Harris Tweed Authority, Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), Scottish Power, Weir Group, Stork and Arnold Clark.

The firm’s IP/IT practice has become one of the largest in Scotland with new recruits and promotions growing the team to 16.

Colin Hulme, partner at Burness Paull said: “We are experiencing strong growth in the oil and gas sector out of Aberdeen.

“In particular we have seen an increase in IP and commercial disputes involving misappropriation of confidential information and instances of patent infringement.

“In some cases this may be the industry adapting to commercial pressures, in others it is more blatant opportunism.

“The value and importance of protecting IP is increasingly acknowledged at senior board level across our client base.

“It is no longer just the preserve of those in the media or tech sectors.”

In addition to its work in the domestic market, Burness Paull is currently managing patent disputes in Sweden, New Zealand, Finland and Germany, and other IP disputes in Ireland, China, Japan and the United States.

“We have a well balanced and strong practice, in both contentious and non-contentious work,” said Hulme.

“This matched with our ambitious technology sector strategy, led by Callum Sinclair, presents a very exciting proposition for our clients.”