Dan Breen

I am an associate in Bird & Bird's market-leading Intellectual Property Group advising clients across a range of sectors on Transactional IP issues.

My practice focusses on non-contentious IP issues in a corporate and commercial context. This includes advising private equity firms and corporate clients with IP-specific issues during due diligence processes and IP audits relating to M&A deals, investment rounds, restructurings, collaborations, and debt financings.

I also advise commercial clients on complex licensing, assignment, and option agreements and provide strategic advice to clients seeking to commercialise their IP rights more generally. I also have experience drafting and negotiating settlement agreements arising out of IP disputes.

I have a particular interest in the Media, Sport and Technology sectors. I spent part of my training contract on a client secondment at The Football Association, which involved drafting and negotiating licence agreements with The FA's commercial partners and advising on a broad range of contentious and non-contentious issues, mostly relating to copyright, trade marks and passing off.

While my work primarily focusses on non-contentious issues, I have also worked on a broad range of contentious matters including complex copyright and trade mark litigation, as well as mediation and arbitration arising from the same.

I joined Bird & Bird in 2021 and qualified into the Intellectual Property Group in 2023. I am the Music Correspondent for MediaWrites, the firm's 'MES' legal news hub and I have also contributed to BrandWrites, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) Journal, and the International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG).

• Advised a global sports governing body on the ownership of intellectual property rights in specified assets from a previous competition.
• Advised a private equity firm on the ownership position of intellectual property rights in literary works.
• Advised a global audio streaming service on a settlement agreement with two global music and entertainment conglomerates, arising out of a copyright infringement claim.
• Advised a non-governmental film organisation on licensing agreements with several global subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming services.
• Advised an investment management firm on the IP elements of a $100m financing of a semiconductor and software design company.
• Performed intellectual property due diligence for a global fashion brand agency ahead of a £200m auction sale.