Joshua Charalambous
Partner
Josh is a Partner in our sports, commercial and IP groups and advises on contentious and non-contentious issues in the sports, esports, interactive entertainment (video games), media (film, TV, music, podcasts and news), retail and consumer and technology sectors.
He is a specialist in sports regulatory, governance, safeguarding and disciplinary matters, and commercial contracts (sponsorship, retail supply chain, media rights acquisition and distribution, licensing and other BAU agreements).
Josh advises on the full range of IP rights and has significant disputes experience before the UK Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, IPEC, Competition Appeal Tribunal, Court of Arbitration for Sport, national sports regulatory/disciplinary forum, and national and international arbitration bodies.
He provides support on corporate deals in the sports sector, involving IP rights and licensing, and advises insurers (and, where applicable, their insureds) on pursuit, defence, coverage, monitoring and policy wording issues involving sports, IP, media and entertainment claims.
"I love working across the sports, esports, media and entertainment and retail/consumer sectors – it's a real passion project for me much like it is for many of our clients"
"Consumption of entertainment is at the heart of a lot of my work. My practice can be divided effectively into two camps: firstly, supporting sports clients on regulatory, governance and disciplinary matters to help the sports and entertainment ecosystem work as it's meant to. Secondly, advising on the commercialisation of rights – in the broadest sense. I provide advisory, commercial, and disputes support to clients in a range of sectors where IP, content and consumers are at the heart of our clients' businesses.
Much of my work is international, working with our colleagues in Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as preferred partner firms around the world. I also am fortunate that my practice sees me collaborate with colleagues on exciting projects which require multi-disciplinary input.
I regularly speak at sports industry events, was selected as a Sport Industry NextGen Leader in 2021, and have a specific interest with leading experience in advising on the growth of women's sport. This includes acting for all of the Women's Super League and Women's Championship football clubs collectively in the formation of a NewCo to own and operate women's professional football in England."
Josh's recent work highlights:
Acting for the founding clubs of Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) to create the leading domestic women's club rugby competition in the world (leading on sports regulatory, delegation and licensing and commercial rights matters).
Advising on media rights acquisition, distribution and broadcast sponsorship agreements across a range of sports including football.
Acting for Soft Construct, a leading live sports data and sports content supplier, in relation to IP and competition law infringement proceedings in the English High Court involving Genius Sports, Football DataCo and others.
Supporting a leading video games developer and publisher in respect of an international product launch in over 20+ jurisdictions, considering issues relating to age verification, local regulatory requirements, and online terms and conditions.
Acting both claimant and defendant side on ongoing trade mark, passing off, design right and copyright claims – in the IPEC and English High Court – in the retail, interactive entertainment and FMCG sectors.
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Expertise sectors
Retail & Consumer, Technology, Media & Telecoms, Consumer Brands, Food & Beverage, Manufacturers, Retailers, Big Tech & Platforms, Sport, Media & Entertainment
Expertise services
Commercial, Disputes, Data & Cyber, Regulatory, Advertising and Marketing, Commercial Contracts, Intellectual Property, Data Disputes, Commercial Disputes, Class Actions, International Arbitration, International Arbitration, Competition & Anti-trust, Crisis Management, Dawn Raids
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