Howrey has bolstered its London office with the hire of renowned ex-Linklaters intellectual property (IP) head Jeremy Brown.

Brown, who headed the Linklaters IP and technology practice for 10 years before retiring from the partnership in 2004, is due to join the US firm tomorrow (9 January) as a partner.

At Linklaters he worked with Howrey's European managing partner Willem Hoyng, who was formerly an IP partner at Linklaters' former Dutch ally De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.

Brown becomes the third partner in Howrey's London IP practice alongside Richard Willoughby and David Stone. The office's former IP head, Isabel Davies, quit last summer for CMS Cameron McKenna.

The appointment is the third London partner hire for Howrey in recent months. In November it appointed dispute resolution senior associate Kit Jarvis from Lovells as a partner and ex-Ashurst litigation partner John Evans.

Howrey chairman and chief executive Robert Ruyak commented: "We are extremely happy that such a respected and experienced IP litigator has joined our IP team in London."