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2025 marks our 175th year of helping the world’s innovators and we’re now one of the oldest intellectual property firms in the world.
Our founders
Haseltine, Lake and Co., as we were originally known, was founded when Dr George Haseltine, an American citizen, and Mr William Robert Lake, a British subject, combined their respective patent agency businesses, whose roots can be traced back to 1850. They met while William was travelling in the USA and formed a partnership as consulting engineers and patent agents, based in London at 45 Southampton Buildings.
Championing reform
Often referring to their business as the ‘International Patent Office, established AD 1850’ during the 1860s, they claimed to be the only patent agents in Europe with an office in the United States. In the 1870s, both gentlemen were active in campaigning for reform to the British patent system, and George Haseltine even gave evidence before a Parliamentary Select Committee. William Robert Lake went on to be one of the founder members of the British Chartered Institute of Patent Agents when it was established in 1882.
Shaping the future
The firm has changed considerably over the years, from advising on patent applications for improving sewing machines, railway construction and telegraph cables in the 1850s and 1860s to AI, renewable energy generation and ground-breaking medical developments today, while also defending household-name brands and designs. What has remained constant throughout, however, is our commitment to always providing the best advice for our clients and building long-term relationships in the UK, Europe and across the world. We are proud to have advised many clients for decades and some for more than a century.
Our pledge for 2025
2025 will be a celebration of our history and a celebration of our future.
To mark our anniversary year, we aim to participate in a range of charitable and community activities throughout 2025. It is important to us in our 175th year that our people spend time supporting and making a difference to causes close to their hearts, helping others to imagine better futures. This will be through a mixture of volunteering, charity challenges, fundraising or donations from our charity fund.
Read more of our 175th anniversary news.
Follow our hashtag #HLK175 on LinkedIn to keep up-to-date with our 175th anniversary news.
