Morgan Lewis has hired a nine-strong London IP team from Cooley, led by partner Nick Bolter.

Bolter led Cooley’s international trademark, copyright and advertising group and is taking a team comprising four associates, a paralegal and three trademark professional staff with him to the top 10 US law firm.

He was one of the founding partners of Cooley’s London office on its launch in 2005, making him the second original partner to leave the office this month following on from Becket McGrath’s departure for competition boutique Euclid.

His practice focuses on the selection, prosecution, protection and enforcement of trademarks, brands and designs in the UK and the EU across sectors including retail, luxury, apparel, technology and automotive.

Morgan Lewis chair Jami McKeon said the hires were “an important part of the strategic growth of our global intellectual property capabilities in the United States, Russia, China, and Japan”.

Bolter and his team join a 200-strong IP practice at Morgan Lewis, which has experienced considerable investment in recent years.

In 2018 it hired a total of 16 US technology and life sciences partners and their teams from McDermott Will & Emery in Orange County, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington

Head of IP Eric Kraeutler said: “The team will work closely with our existing talent in the United States and Moscow, adding critical depth to our already global trademark and branding practice.”

Frances Murphy, head of the Morgan Lewis’s London office, added that Bolter and his team’s practice “was complementary to that of the wider team here, working on data protection issues and technology transactions”.

His departure leaves partner Charlie Winckworth, who joined Cooley in January last year from Hogan Lovells, as the senior London contact in the firm’s international trademark, copyright and advertising team.

IP is one of tech sector-focused Cooley’s four core practice areas alongside corporate, litigation and regulatory.

Last week, Morgan Lewis was among the law firms that secured their retailing clients a landmark UK Supreme Court victory in the long-running dispute with MasterCard and Visa over over interchange fees.