Peter photo

Peter Groves

Solicitor

Experience

Peter Groves has over 40 years of experience in intellectual property, IT and competition law.

Peter qualified in general practice in his native north-east, then joined the legal department of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders where he remained for the next seven years, apart from a period when he was Head of Commercial Law at the Confederation of British Industry. 

Moving into private practice, he worked for several London firms including becoming a partner at Manches & Co in London. 

Since 2008 he has been a consultant to CJJ Law, serving individual and SME clients, and during this period has also had part-time or interim positions with the Royal Institute of British Architects (legal adviser, 2011 to 2014) and Bolttech Group (2019-2020), and (through Lawyers on Demand) Mishcon de Reya, Lexis Nexis and DLA Piper.

He has lectured and written extensively on intellectual property law.


In Peter’s own words…

"Every business started off small, and it’s when they are at that stage and growing into medium-sized enterprises that clients are most interested. They are in control of their own destiny, and receptive to and appreciative of legal advice. Like me, SMEs don’t like to be hidebound by the law – they use their intellectual property as a tool to help them grow, unlike some big businesses to whom IP has become an end in itself."


Education

  • LLB Hons, University of Warwick, 1977
  • Law Society Qualifying Examination, 1978-1980
  • MA Business Law, City of London Polytechnic, 1982
  • PhD, City of London Polytechnic, 1991

Achievements

  • Author of several books on intellectual property law, including A Dictionary of Intellectual Property Law (Edward Elgar, 2011), and numerous articles in legal and trade journals
  • Has presented many professional training courses for Central Law Training and others
  • Tutor to students studying the IP module of the University of London International Programme LLB course, and taught students taking this course at the Russian State University of Justice in Moscow from 2011 until 2019
  • Member of North Bedfordshire Borough Council, 1984-88
  • Parliamentary candidate, South Shields, General election 1983
  • Elected member of the Management Committee (i.e. a company director) of the Society of Authors, 2014 to 2017