Thera Adam-van Straaten

Global co-head of IP, Eversheds Sutherlands (Netherlands)

Thera Adam-van Straaten is the global co-head of IP for Eversheds Sutherlands and advises clients on trademark, design, copyright, trade name and domain name infringements as well as on advertising and marketing claims in relation to food health claims, novel foods, pharma and medical devices.

Notable cases include carrying out appeal proceedings for the owner of the Benelux trademark ‘Wendy’s’, which was under attack by the US company Wendy’s International, and a suit in relation to an OralB toothbrush advertising in the Netherlands.

She sits on the board of the Benelux Trademark and Design Law Association, and is a founding member and treasurer of the Dutch Association of Intellectual Property Law Litigators.

Purvi Patel Albers

Partner, Haynes and Boone (US)

Purvi Patel Albers joined Haynes and Boone in 1999 as the firm’s first dedicated trademark lawyer and over the past two decades has built a practice that now includes more than 30 trademark practitioners. She is chair of the firm’s trademark group, managing its business goals, attorney recruitment and development, and business development.

Albers counsels Fortune 500 and emerging companies in a gamut of industries, on the management of their valuable brand investments, copyright, domain, and social media issues. She is a member of Haynes and Boone’s board of directors and actively advances diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the firm. She participates in conferences and speaking engagements designed to enhance D&I progress including the South Asian Bar Association Leadership Institute.

Sara Ashby

Partner, Wiggin (UK)

In her more than 25 years’ experience as a specialist IP litigator, Sara Ashby has developed a deliberately broad practice, assisting clients with enforcement and strategy matters across all IP rights. Particularly adept at dealing with non-standard IP disputes, Ashby is a specialist litigator with experience assisting clients from a broad range of fields including computer games, media, fashion and footwear, pharma, automotive, and engineering.

She is president of AIPPI UK, and co-chair of AIPPI’s international designs committee and on AIPPI’s nominating committee. Ashby is a research fellow with Oxford University’s IP Research Centre. Ashby has been on the UK government’s expert trade advisory group for IP and is a member of the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (UKIPO) marks and designs forum.

Karla Aspiras

IP counsel, Tapestry (US)

Karla Aspiras is responsible for global anti-counterfeiting strategies for all brands owned by Tapestry, the parent company of Coach New York, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman. She develops and implements the global IP protection strategy and manages civil anti-counterfeiting litigation.

She also manages domestic and international prosecution as well as outside counsel for foreign IP matters. She advises the businesses on clearance of product design, packaging, naming, copy and marketing material and counsels brand management on a variety of IP and related issues, including advertising, marketing and social media.

She is co-chair of the fashion law committee of the New York Intellectual Property Association and has been a key speaker at conferences including the Luxury Law Summit.

Tertia Beharie

Partner, Spoor & Fisher (South Africa)

Tertia Beharie is a patent attorney who covers domestic and international patent matters, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications. She specialises in filing applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, agrichemical, metallurgical and biochemical fields, and also deals with biodiversity and traditional knowledge issues.

She handles patent and design applications received from abroad, as well as the prosecution of domestic patent and design applications. She is a fellow of the South African Institute for Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) and a member of both the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association and the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys.

Elaine Blais

Partner, Goodwin Procter (US)

During her 25-year career, Elaine Blais has led teams on cases across the pharmaceuticals industry where she has represented brands and generics, including Teva Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s, MSN, Fresenius Kabi, Hikma, the Association for Accessible Medicines, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

She specialises in the fields of stem cell technology, secure financial transactions, light-emitting diodes, and consumer products. She represents clients in arbitration proceedings, often addressing disputes arising out of licensing agreements involving a variety of technologies, including CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing and biologics manufacturing.

Blais is the founder of Goodwin’s award-winning biosimilars blog, www.bigmoleculewatch.com. She serves on the Kids in need of defense Boston Advisory Committee, the Boston Bar Association Council, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association's diversity, equity and inclusion committee.

Lynne Boisineau

Counsel, Scale (US)

Lynne Boisineau has more than 20 years of experience in IP prosecution, counselling, enforcement and licensing, as well as providing litigation support. She has managed global portfolios of startups to Fortune 500 companies totalling upwards of 4,000 trademarks. She assists clients with IP issues related to social media, smartphone apps, the Amazon Brand Registry, US customs recordation, and infringing content removal.

Her professional affiliations include the International Trademark Association (INTA) where she is a right of publicity committee member, the Orange County Intellectual Property Association where she was a past co-chair of its Women in IP Committee, and the American Bar Association. She was the founder of Boisineau Law.

Elisabeth Stewart Bradley

Vice president of innovation law, trademarks, copyrights, and brand protection, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) (US)

Elisabeth Stewart Bradley has practised law for more than 20 years and she specialises in trademarks, copyright, social media, domain names, brand management, portfolio management, prosecution and enforcement, and online brand protection.

She served as the vice president and chief trademark counsel for Cadbury for eight years before joining BMS in 2011. She is also an INTA treasurer and member of the association’s executive committee.

In 2019, she was the co-chair of IP Owners Association’s Women in IP law committee, where she helped create a mentoring programme for women in law. Bradley co-chaired INTA’s first virtual Annual Meeting in November 2020, leading a conversation titled “Gender Diversity at the Top of Legal Organisations: How Senior Male Attorneys Can Be Strong Allies and Help Champion Concrete Progress Towards Gender Diversity”.

Ellen Breddam

Head of trademarks, Plougmann Vingtoft (Denmark)

Ellen Breddam heads Plougmann Vingtoft’s trademark team and was made partner in 2018. She provides strategic advice to clients on IP rights, primarily trademarks, designs, and domain names, and has special experience with trademarks within the medicament industry, the food industry, and the IT and consulting industries.

Before joining Plougmann Vingtoft, Breddam worked at another major IP consultancy from 2005 to 2012. Previously, she worked for the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, first as a legal examiner and later as the head of a section where her main working area was development of legal practices in relation to trademarks and design.

Breddam has been an assistant professor at the faculty of law at the University of Copenhagen where she taught IP Law. She was responsible for the Danish contribution to INTA’s “Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol Practice Guide”, and she is a member of the European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA) and Marques.

Rosie Burbidge

Partner, Gunnercooke (UK)

Since joining Gunnercooke as a partner in 2018, Rosie Burbidge has built a practice focused on trademark, copyright and design disputes, strategic advice, particularly in relation to IP portfolio protection and corporate transactions. She now manages a team of three and is actively scaling up the firm’s IP offering.

Her clients include a major Japanese fashion house, various heritage and emerging fashion designers in the UK and EU, gaming and technology businesses. She has become a renowned expert in fashion law and published her book, “European Fashion Law: A Practical Guide from Start-up to Global Success” in 2019. She is also a regular contributor to the blog, IPKat.

Zoe Butler

Partner, Powell Gilbert (UK)

Zoe Butler has been a partner at Powell Gilbert since its founding in 2007. She combines a technical background with a wealth of experience handling complex, multijurisdictional IP disputes across a broad range of technological areas and industry sectors. Over the past year, Butler has continued to play a leading role in a number of significant, high-profile, international patent cases including in tech, media and telecoms and in life sciences sectors.

She advises on related issues arising from international technology standards, such as patent pools, licensing and licensing agreements made according to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. She also counsels on patent litigation strategy.

Isabella Cardozo

Head of trademarks, Daniel Law (Brazil)

Isabella Cardozo is Daniel Law’s head of trademarks and leads the firm’s D&I programme. She started at Daniel Law as an intern and became a partner in 2005. She has been instrumental in creating and implementing the firm’s long-term D&I policies and initiatives and has led by example, creating a 100% female management team within her trademarks department.

Her practice focuses primarily on managing large portfolios and developing corporate strategies for IP development and protection. She acts on behalf of national and international clients before INPI, the Brazilian patent and trademark office.

Spring Chang

Partner, Chang Tsi & Partners (China)

Spring Chang (Yinghui Han) is a founding partner at Chang Tsi & Partners, and is based in the firm’s Beijing office. She has more than two decades of experience as an attorney and works with clients in China and around the world. She focuses her practice on patents, trademarks, copyright, and domain names, and often represents clients in the electronics, pharmaceutical, apparel, and jewellery industries.

Chang is an active member of INTA and AIPPI. Before joining the firm she worked as an attorney at law, at DeHeng Law Office in Beijing, and then as a visiting attorney at Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu.

Laura Collada

Managing partner, Dumont Bergman Bider & Co (Mexico)

Laura Collada has more than 30 years’ experience in IP and is a managing partner at Dumont, where she has worked since 2000. She has taught copyright and industrial property law at various universities in Mexico City. She also worked as a director of the sub-office for the prevention of unfair competition at IMPI, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property.

Collada focuses her practice in the areas of fashion, media and telecommunications. She has written for WIPR and is a member of INTA, Marques, AIPPI and ECTA.

Tiffany Cunningham

Partner, Perkins Coie (US)

Tiffany Cunningham was nominated by US President Joe Biden as one of the first black female judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her appointment was confirmed on July 19. She serves as trial and appellate counsel for Fortune 500 companies, small enterprises, and individuals in complex patent and trade secret disputes.

She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and also earned a BSc in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which will make her one of the few judges on the Federal Circuit with a technical degree.

Before joining Perkins, Cunningham worked at Kirkland & Ellis, where she was part of a team representing BlackBerry that succeeded in reversing a nearly $150 million jury verdict against the tech company in a patent suit.

Tiki Dare

President, International Trademark Association (US)

As the 2021 president of INTA, Tiki Dare will help shepherd the association’s 2022–2025 strategic plan, which will guide its direction and set its priorities for the coming years. This year, Dare will steer a presidential taskforce that will focus on D&I, building on the work of INTA’s Women’s LeadershIP Initiative in 2020.

Dare is assistant general counsel at Oracle, where she leads the trademark and copyright legal team. Her areas of practice also include anti-counterfeiting, advertising, contests and sweepstakes, IP and competition law.

Mariëtte du Plessis

Senior partner, Adams & Adams (South Africa)

Mariëtte du Plessis specialises in trademark, copyright, advertising and domain name-related disputes, as well as regulatory advice. She represents high profile South African and international clients, including Mastercard, Whirlpool, Tommy Hilfiger, Dell and Jack Daniel’s.

She is a past president of the SAIIPL, and has served on numerous INTA committees including its Africa Legislative Analysis committee. She serves on the Marques international trademarks team and on the working group for the Improvement of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization system.

Passionate about promoting the protection of IP in Africa, she serves on the firm’s Africa committee and is always looking for opportunities to promote the country.

Uzoamaka Emerole

Senior associate, Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun (ACAS Law) (Nigeria)

Uzoamaka Emerole leads the IP department at ACAS Law, and she has garnered 16 years of experience in every aspect of IP law. She provides legal support on diverse local and multi-jurisdictional transactions ranging from securing protection, management, prosecution, enforcement, acquisition, transfer, and exploitation of all types of IP rights.

Emerole regularly participates in merger and acquisition deals, legal due diligence and audit exercises; and her expertise includes pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics, and medical device products. Her professional affiliations include the Nigerian Bar Association, the Intellectual Property Law Association of Nigeria, and INTA.

She is a member of Women in IP Nigeria, a network that develops programmes to promote women in IP.

Michal Fisher

Founding partner, Fisher-Friedman IP Group (Israel)

Michal Fisher is a co-founding partner at one of the leading IP firms in Israel, Fisher-Friedman IP Group. She represents tech transfer companies of leading universities and medical centres in Israel. Fisher specialises in building IP strategies that maximise the client company value through creating and managing IP assets such as patents, designs, trademarks, copyrights, breeders’ rights and trade secrets.

She has expertise in drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications around the world, as well as handling oppositions, provides patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate opinions and offers litigation support to clients.

Laurie Fitzgerald

Senior vice president, Avanci (Ireland)

A patent licensing professional and IP attorney, Laurie Fitzgerald has more than a decade of experience in resolving disputes between patent owners and technology developers.

Fitzgerald joined Avanci from its affiliate Teletry, where she spent the last three years facilitating the licensing of BlackBerry’s extensive portfolio of patented technologies to smartphone and telecom infrastructure manufacturers.

In her current role, she is expanding the Avanci 5G patent platform, connecting patent owners and product creators to efficiently license wireless standard essential technologies.

Before her licensing career, Fitzgerald was a principal in the US-based law firm of McKool Smith. Her practice spanned all aspects of patent law, with a focus on disputes relating to standards development organisations and FRAND licensing terms.

Raquel Flanzbaum

Partner, Ojam Bullrich Flanzbaum (Argentina)

Raquel Flanzbaum has extensive experience in IP prosecution and litigation and manages several clients’ trademark portfolios, covering not only Argentina but also Latin America. She has vast experience in patent litigation, where she is very involved in the prosecution stage.

She began working in IP in 1997, when she became a member of the trademark team in Clarke Modet & Cia in Argentina. Flanzbaum is now a name partner at Ojam Bullrich Flanzbaum, and has published several articles on various IP topics, in Argentine and foreign publications.

She has been a member of the trademark subcommittee of the Argentine Association of Industrial Property Agents, and has joined the Association’s academic subcommittee. She is currently a member of the INTA legislation and regulation committee, and its Latin America and Caribbean subcommittee.

Anja Franke

Partner, Grünecker (Germany)

Anja Franke is a partner at IP boutique law firm Grünecker, one of the leading and largest IP firms in Europe, with offices in Munich, Cologne, Berlin and Paris. She co-leads Grünecker’s trademark group comprising six partners and 30 associates and counsel.

She represents international clients mainly in the automobile, tech, fashion and sports sectors and her practice spans all trademark related fields, including prosecution, litigation, copyright, designs and unfair competition.

She is a lecturer in IP law at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, and has published articles addressing key issues in the field of trademarks, designs and copyright law.

Ashlee Froese

Founder, Froese Law (Canada)

Ashlee Froese is a lawyer and trademark agent with more than 13 years’ experience, who is recognised by the Law Society of Ontario as a certified specialist in trademarks law. Her practice covers trademarks, copyright, licensing, domain names, social media, marketing/advertising and packaging/labelling laws.

Froese also assists in drafting and negotiating commercial agreements associated with the manufacture, distribution, sale and advertisement of branded products and services. She is a guest speaker and published author on branding and fashion law and is regularly asked to provide media commentary on key legal developments.

In 2015, Froese led a movement to allow the fashion industry to be eligible for government funding in Canada. She is also the past-chair of the Toronto Intellectual Property Group, a committee member of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, a committee member of INTA and a member of the Ontario Bar Association.

Özlem Fütman

Partner, Ofo Ventura (Turkey)

Özlem Fütman has broad experience in effectively managing IP portfolios for some of the most recognisable national and international companies operating in Turkey. She is an IP litigator, trademark and patent attorney and European patent attorney who has more than 20 years’ experience practising IP law.

She founded Ofo Ventura in 2004, which comprises an all-female team of partners, senior lawyers and senior trademark and patent attorneys who provide legal support and assistance on a full range of IP services including litigation, enforcement, prosecution, counselling and on non-contentious matters.

Her clients span all industries including cosmetics, fashion, food, entertainment, publishing, online games and certification companies. She is one of the few leading experts in geographical indications in Turkey and has been a member of Marques’ GI team for almost eight years.

T: +90 212 219 6733

E: ofutman@ofoventura.com.tr

Jane Ginsburg

Faculty director, Columbia University Law School (US)

Jane Ginsburg is the faculty director of Columbia University’s Kernochan Center for law, media, and the arts, and is a renowned authority on IP law as well as a staunch defender of authors’ rights.

She is the daughter of the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and law professor the late Martin Ginsburg, both of whom served on the Columbia Law School faculty.

She is the co-author of “International Copyright and Neighboring Rights: The Berne convention and beyond”. Other titles she has co-authored include “Foundations of Intellectual Property”, and “Intellectual Property Stories”.

Susan Heller

Co-managing shareholder, Greenberg Traurig (US)

Susan Heller is co-managing shareholder of the Greenberg Traurig office in Orange County, California, and chairs the firm’s global trademark and brand management group. During her 30-year career, she has represented Fortune 500 companies, world champion athletes, high-net-worth individuals, A-list celebrities and highly visible pre-IPO companies.

In 2020, Heller was selected to be a member of the prestigious United Nations’ artificial intelligence initiative (AI For Good), joining an elite team of law firm leaders, international business executives, university deans, and UN thought leaders.

Heller was named an outstanding IP practitioner in WIPR Leaders Guide 2021. She has a strong commitment to promoting women in IP and is co-chair of the firm’s global women’s initiative.

Tamsin Holman

Partner, D Young & Co (London & Munich)

Tamsin Holman’s IP practice spans 25 years during which she has represented numerous household-name brands, acting on a broad range of contentious IP issues.

Holman joined D Young in 2011 and established the firm’s dispute resolution and legal group. Notable clients include Rolex, Skechers, Lush, and Guinness World Records among others.

Holman is involved with a number of IP professional organisations, including INTA, where she has served on sub-committees and task forces within the INTA enforcement committee. She has also held various speaking engagements at legal events, such as the Brussels IP Law Summit, where she spoke on Brexit-related trademark issues, and the Luxury Law Summit.

Alicia Instone

President, Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (UK)

Alicia Instone became the youngest ever president of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys when she was appointed in 2021. A dual-qualified patent and trademark attorney and patent litigator, she is a partner at IP law firm Cleveland Scott York where she works in the fields of chemistry, dyes and pigments, photochromic materials, medical devices, laboratory consumables, traffic control, oil and gas, and natural sciences.

She became a partner at the firm in 2019 and is also treasurer of the UK Association of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys.

Viktoria Kraetzig

Attorney-at-law, Nordemann (Germany)

Viktoria Kraetzig advises clients in the fields of copyright, art, trademarks, IT and competition law. Her clients include national and international companies and associations, from startups to globally active groups.

She successfully represented VG Bild-Kunst in March 2021 in a landmark copyright before the Court of Justice for the European Union, which held that website links to copyrighted material can be restricted.

Another focus of her work is in providing advice in press law, born from her experience as in-house counsel for a renowned newspaper publisher before becoming an attorney-at-law.

Marissa Lasso de la Vega Ferrari

Partner, Alfaro Ferrer & Ramirez (Panama)

Marissa Lasso de la Vega Ferrari heads the IP department at law firm Alfaro Ferrer & Ramirez as well as its consumer protection and data privacy practice group. She was president of the Panamanian Association of Industrial Property from 2016 to 2020 and is a professor of IP law at Santa Maria la Antigua University.

She chairs the Panamanian Alliance against Illicit Trade and has been instrumental in creating a campaign against piracy and counterfeiting in Panama.

Rena Lee

Director, IPOS International (Singapore)

Rena Lee was appointed chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) in August 2020, succeeding Daren Tang. In her role, she is spearheading the Singapore IP Strategy 2030 (SIPS 2030), which aims to position Singapore as a global hub for IP.

Lee has specialised in the practice of international law, covering multiple practice areas, including international humanitarian and human rights law, disarmament law, law of the sea, environmental and climate change law, and the law of privileges and immunities, and international organisations.

She has advised the Singaporean government on various issues of international law, and also participated in various bilateral and multilateral negotiations.

Lee began her career in the public service with Singapore’s Ministry of Defence in 1992, joining the Singapore Bar in 1993 and later the attorney general’s chambers in 2008.

Liz Lenjo

Founder, MYIP Legal Studio (Kenya)

Liz Lenjo is the founder and managing consultant of MYIP Legal Studio, where she specialises in IP, entertainment, media and fashion law. She is a member of Kenya’s copyright tribunal, serves on the Kenya Fashion Council as the head of IP and policy in the legal committee.

Her stated long-term goal is to see a Kenya that appreciates the value of IP and the value of the arts in the entertainment industry, and Lenjo has developed a pioneer legal blog focusing on non-lawyers to help them understand their IP rights to help achieve this aim.

She is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, East Africa Law Society, Kenya Industrial Property Institute, and Kenya’s Federation of Women Lawyers.

Gail Lione

Senior counsel, Dentons Washington, DC (US)

Gail Lione has served as general counsel for three companies in three different industries: global marketing/manufacturing; publishing, printing and digital imaging; and insurance, banking and financial services.

She was the executive vice president, general counsel of Harley-Davidson. She also served as president of the Harley-Davidson Foundation until she retired from the company. Lione served as general counsel and secretary of US News & World Report and its affiliates.

Her first general counsel position was with Sun Life Group of America in Atlanta. There, she managed the legal affairs and all regulatory activities of five insurance companies licensed in 50 states.

Gabriella Liu

Partner, IParagon (China/US)

Gabriella Liu is the principal founder and chief partner of Chinese technology law firm, Beijing IParagon. She represents and serves international and Chinese companies with large IP portfolios or technology assets to help their business in China. IParagon also works with clients to expand outside China.

Her core practice areas span IP, technology law, litigation, antitrust in high-tech sectors, international IP-driven deals, and startup strategies. With her deep understanding of China’s IP law, Liu has helped numerous clients win or resolve significant cases as well as protect their business interests in China, including a non-infringement declaratory lawsuit for Gucci in Beijing.

She is particularly experienced in high tech industry, media and entertainment, pharmaceutical and bioscience, luxury and high fashion, and food, wine and hospitality industry. She commits her time and energies to mentoring and sharing her experiences with young law students and legal/IP professionals, especially women law students and attorneys.

T: (86 10) 6533 0055

E: gabriella.liu@iparagonlaw.com

Christiana Loizides

Partner, Sheridans (UK)

Christiana Loizides heads Sheridan’s trademark team and advises across all IP rights on both contentious and non-contentious matters. Her specific expertise includes advice on matters involving the infringement of IP rights, including trademarks, copyright, designs, passing off and breach of confidential information.

Having managed global trademark portfolios, Loizides has extensive experience in advising on trademark and brand clearance, worldwide filing programmes, prosecution, oppositions and invalidity actions. She acts for an extensive client base, including fashion brands, esports and sports businesses, game companies, music and theatre companies, restaurateurs and media companies.

Loizides regularly works with the British Fashion Council and is involved in advising fashion brands based in the UK about their IP rights.

Gaby Longsworth

Director, Sterne, Kessler & Fox (US)

Gaby Longsworth’s practice spans all areas of patent procurement, including domestic and foreign patent preparation and lifecycle management strategies. Her expertise lies primarily in the fields of biotherapeutics, small molecules, biologics, immunotherapy, antibody technologies, microbiome-based technologies, synthetic biology, DNA amplification/PCR, diagnostics, vaccines, viral vectors and drug delivery.

She counsels clients in IP due diligence evaluations for raising and investing in growth capital, executing strategic partnerships and M&A transactions, and going public. Longsworth has strong experience in biopharmaceutical inter partes review proceedings before the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her professional affiliations include the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia.

Julia Anne Matheson

Partner, Potomac (US)

Julia Anne Matheson has 30 years of experience in the fields of trademarks, trade dress, product configuration, and unfair competition. Her practice includes worldwide portfolio management as well as enforcement, due diligence, false advertising, licensing, social media, and internet disputes.

She has been lead counsel in more than 100 inter partes proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, as well as litigating before the federal courts. Matheson represents clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies and multinational organisations in industries including communications/internet, consumer goods, personal care products, retail, food and beverage, fashion, entertainment, pharmaceutical, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and financial services as well as numerous associations and charities.

Fiona McBride

Partner, Withers & Rogers (UK)

Fiona McBride has more than 20 years’ experience in the trademarks field, with particular emphasis and success in contentious matters before the UKIPO. Her previous experience includes working as in-house attorney for ICI and Smith & Nephew.

McBride joined Withers & Rogers in 2001 and was appointed as chair in April 2021. She works with clients in many different business areas, ranging from food and drink, entertainment and leisure to high-end jewellery and fashion houses. Her professional affiliations include the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, INTA and ECTA.

As a founding member of the Southwest branch of IP Inclusive, McBride is leading the agenda at Withers & Rogers to promote diversity in the IP industry.

T: +44 117 925 3030

E: fmcbride@withersrogers.com

Tanya Meedom

Partner, Elmann (Denmark)

Tanya Meedom is head of Elmann’s IP team and she advises on protection and enforcement of IP rights, including trademark, design and copyrights, as well as IT law and marketing law. She has considerable experience in handling matters related to digital marketing, including domain name infringements and protection and enforcement of rights against illegitimate abuse on the internet, social media and apps.

In addition, she has extensive experience in drafting and advising on all forms of commercial agreements, including licensing, royalty, distribution and agent agreements. She is a member of INTA, Marques and ECTA.

Isabel Milman

Partner, Bhering Advogados (Brazil)

Isabel Milman has more than 15 years of experience of litigating on behalf of medium and large Brazilian and foreign companies, as well as multinational corporations. Her practice covers IP litigation including infringement and nullity lawsuits involving trademarks, patents and industrial designs, as well as disputes related to software and copyright.

She offers consulting services, advising on the review and negotiation of commercial IP agreements, and the preparation of legal opinions for domestic and foreign clients. Her clients include Porsche, Marriott, Casino, DC Comics and Warner.

Vaishali Mittal

Partner, Anand & Anand (India)

Vaishali Mittal is an IP practitioner with 18 years of practice spanning litigation, prosecution, drafting and advisory work on behalf of several Fortune 500 companies and other leading organisations worldwide.

She has handled several notable cases, including India’s first anti-suit injunction; representing Koninklijke Philips before the Delhi High Court in two landmark patent battles; and representing Nokia in various pre-suit mediation claims concerning infringement of standard essential patents before the Delhi High Court.

She also engages in pro bono work, including a case that helped to deliver free medical aid for children struggling to live with rare genetic disorders.

Flavia Murad-Schaal

Founding partner, Mansur Murad Advogados (Brazil)

Flavia Murad-Schaal is a key figure in Brazil’s IP space, specialising in areas such as artificial intelligence, algorithms, new copyright framework in digital matters, and platform economies including new financial arrangements such as fintech.

Her team handles administrative prosecution and court litigation connected with intangible assets in Brazil and abroad, routinely dealing with legal issues regarding trademarks, patents, trade secrets, software, designs, copyrights and publicity rights.

She is manager of the digital and intellectual property law department at CEU Law School, and an adjunct professor at Austral University, in Argentina. She is the author of “Intellectual Property, Internet and Civil Rights” (2016) and has written and co-authored several articles in Brazil and abroad on IP, technology or business law.

She is a member of the brands and innovation committee at INTA.

Cyra Nargolwalla

Managing partner, Plasseraud IP (France)

Cyra Nargolwalla heads Plasseraud IP’s chemistry and life sciences practice group. She has more than 27 years of experience as a patent attorney, with an excellent track record in representing clients in opposition and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO), in both French and English.

Her notable cases include EPO opposition and appeal proceedings in the areas of botulinum toxin; gene-editing; vaccines; and antibodies for cancer treatment. She is a regular speaker at conferences on biotech/pharmaceutical patent matters as well as on litigation-related topics.

Nargolwalla has been invited to the EPO several times to speak with examiners on how to provide better client satisfaction with respect to examination and opposition procedures.

Marjan Noor

Partner, Allen & Overy (UK)

Marjan Noor specialises in patent litigation and regulatory advice in the life sciences sector, and has expertise in supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and regulatory law. She graduated with a degree in medical sciences and pharmacology before studying law.

Noor speaks extensively on a range of patent and regulatory topics and is a lecturer on the University of Oxford’s IP diploma course, where she specialises on the topics of SPCs and regulatory law for IP practitioners.

Naomi Pearce

Principal, Pearce IP (Australia)

Naomi Pearce is one of Australia’s leading patent litigators and was recognised as a WIPR Leader in 2020. Pearce is a patent lawyer, patent attorney and trademark attorney, with more than 24 years’ experience supporting clients in the pharmaceutical sector, and a background in molecular biology/biochemistry.

Intent on ‘doing things differently’, Pearce founded Pearce IP in 2017 as a virtual firm, in which staff work remotely. Team members are based in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and regional New South Wales and are connected by state-of-the-art technology.

Pearce trained at law firm Ashurst, spent 13 years leading the biopharma IP teams of Pfizer (Hospira) and then Mylan, and is a former partner of K&L Gates where she co-chaired its global pharma/biopharma industry group.

E: naomi.pearce@pearceIP.law

Ameet Kaur Purba

Partner, Law Partnership (Malaysia)

With two decades of experience, Ameet Kaur Purba provides legal advice on trademark prosecution, clearance searches, registrability, opposition and rectification proceedings as well as the protection and maintenance of copyright, industrial design and geographical indication.

Her work includes domestic and cross-border disputes and transactions. She provides regulatory advice to stakeholders in the life sciences industry, is well-versed in data protection laws and manages IP due diligence for leading international companies.

She also advises clients on IP-related agreements associated with commercial contracts, licensing and franchising arrangements, as well as privacy concerns relating to the collection and use of personal data. Before joining Law Partnership, she was a partner at law firm Shearn Delamore & Co, and is a past president of the AIPPI, Malaysian Chapter.

Clare Robinson

Partner, Osborne Clarke (UK)

Clare Robinson joined Osborne Clarke after qualifying in 1987 and became a partner at the firm in 1992. Robinson is a leading litigator in IP disputes and has more than 20 years’ experience advising clients on resolving complex and substantial cases. She acts for clients in the UK and overseas, and is recognised for her ability to maximise strategic opportunities for her clients and achieve cost-effective results.

As well as handling substantial litigation, she is experienced in other forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation and commercial arbitration.

Liliane Roriz

Partner, Licks Attorneys (Brazil)

After more than 20 years as a federal district court judge and an appellate judge in the Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Liliane joined Licks Attorneys as a partner in 2013. Before becoming a federal judge, Roriz was also a federal attorney for INPI.

During her time as an appellate judge, Roriz chaired the Federal Magistracy School and the IP specialised second panel of appellate judges, presiding over historic leading cases in Brazilian IP law.

Her professional affiliations include the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property, the Brazilian Attorney’s Institute, and the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property Agents.

Raka Roy

Head of IP and data protection, Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants (UAE)

Raka Roy focuses her practice on commercial and IP matters, and has a wealth of experience in high profile projects and transactions. She regularly advises clients who are based in the United Arab Emirates on issues related to e-commerce, digital and tech laws.

Her clients come from diverse backgrounds and industries, including fashion, fast-moving consumer goods, real estate, retail, automotive. Roy is a member of the INTA leadership programme and is a member of INTA’s committee for unfair competition representing the Middle East and Africa.

She is registered as a patent agent with the Indian Patent office and holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce.

Cecilia Sanabria

Partner, Finnegan (US)

Cecilia Sanabria focuses her practice on complex patent litigation and client counselling in the mechanical, industrial, and electrical fields. She represents clients before US district courts and the US International Trade Commission.

She has been recognised as a “Top Lawyer under 40” by the Hispanic National Bar Association and as a “Rising Star” by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.

She is the co-lead for Finnegan Forward, an initiative focused on the advancement and development of women attorneys at the firm. Part of her role includes developing programmes specifically directed towards advancing women attorneys both internally and externally, which includes training, mentoring, promoting, and advocating for women. She also mentors junior attorneys at varying stages of their careers.

Aylin Sener

Partner, Orbis Vista (Turkey)

As managing partner at Orbis Vista, Aylin Sener has a strong background of technical knowledge in patent, trademark, industrial design and plant breeder’s rights, and is a representative before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.

Sener is a member of INTA, the European Communities Trademark Association, AIPPI and the Association of European Trademark Owners.

Manisha Singh

Partner, LexOrbis (India)

Manisha Singh is a leading lawyer in the IP arena in India. During her career, she has played an important and crucial role in advising Indian policy and lawmakers on global standards associated with IP administrative and enforcement systems.

Singh has acted on several milestone cases and leads most of the firm’s large and complex cases. She represents clients in a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, fashion, media and entertainment, publishing, fast-moving consumer goods, electronics, automobile, and tech.

Singh is a prolific writer and speaker and has authored more than 500 articles and papers on contemporary IP and legal issues in India.

Vanessa Stainthorpe

Partner, HGF (UK)

Vanessa Stainthorpe has more than 25 years of experience as a patent attorney and has been a board member for HGF since August 2020. She specialises in patent filing, prosecution and strategic IP advice in the mechanical engineering field with a particular specialism in medical technology.

She leads HGF’s medical devices team and this year, she spoke at HGF’s annual IP in Healthcare conference and at its Child Health Technology event. She is heavily involved in IP Inclusive, which aims to improve D&I in IP, ensuring that HGF was one of the early signatories to the organisation’s charter.

She set up and led the IP Inclusive North of England network, providing support to professionals across the region. She organised and hosted an “Allies” event to support D&I in June 2020 and presented follow up Q&A videos.

Sandhya Surendran

Senior legal counsel, Vice Media (India)

Sandhya Surendran’s experience has focused on the technology, media and entertainment industries. She began her career with Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh. A. Shroff, a law firm in Mumbai, and moved to Infosys in Bangalore as in-house counsel in 2009.

Following three years at Infosys, she joined the ad-tech startup, InMobi, in 2012 and worked there for nearly five years. In 2016, she started her independent legal and business consultancy firm, Lexic, and built a practice focusing on media and entertainment.

She then joined Vice Media in 2021 as senior legal counsel for Asia-Pacific. Surendran fosters IP knowledge among creative professionals through her podcast, Lex Talk Music, one of India’s first podcasts on the legal aspects of the music industry.

Diana Torres

Partner, Kirkland & Ellis (US)

In her role as an IP and commercial litigation partner, Diana Torres focuses her practice on false advertising, unfair competition, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets matters. She has handled many high-profile matters for a wide variety of clients, including consumer product manufacturers, fitness service providers, entertainment and media companies, and internet service providers.

Torres advises clients on compliance and contractual issues and commercial legal strategy. She was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers from 2001 to 2009, and an associate before 2001. She serves on the board of governors for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and on the board of directors for the Western Center on Law & Poverty Foundation and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

She is a member of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund.

Moïra Truijens

Partner, Hoogenraad & Haak (Netherlands)

Moïra Truijens works across many IP-related matters, including patent litigation, unfair competition, custom matters and commercial contracts. She acts for big international brands but also for smaller businesses and has several clients in the fashion and design sector.

In addition to her partnership at Hoogenraad & Haak, she is a deputy judge with the court of appeal in Den Bosch.

Truijens represented Hyundai before the Benelux Court of Justice in the appeal of opposition proceedings against Kona. Her professional affiliations include INTA, the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Marques, where she is secretary of the designs team, BMM, the Dutch Association for Copyright Law, and VIEPA.

Joëlle Van Malderen

Head of AWA Benelux and Switzerland, AWA (Switzerland)

Joëlle Van Malderen is a European patent attorney as well as Belgian and Luxembourg patent attorney, with more than 30 years of experience in IP prosecution. She is a Benelux and European trademark and design attorney.

Van Malderen assists her clients with strategies relating to IP rights, including infringement, nullity actions, unfair competition and compensation claims. She is a tutor on European patent law for the Centre for Intellectual Property Studies’ diploma in patent litigation at the University of Strasbourg, and for IP-related courses at the University of Brussels.

Helen Wallis

Partner, CMS (UK)

Helen Wallis is a highly experienced patent attorney focused on high-tech patent drafting and prosecution, with an expertise in computer hardware and software and telecommunications. She has extensive experience of patent drafting and prosecution and represents a range of clients from single inventors through to multinationals.

Wallis works with teams of inventors to identify commercially valuable patentable ideas and then to draft patent applications which are suited to both European and US filing. Her clients include leading companies in the software, silicon chip and wireless communications fields. She is a member of the CIPA computer technology committee.

Amy-Lynne Williams

Founder, Deeth Williams Wall (Canada)

Amy-Lynne Williams is a founding member of Deeth Williams Wall, and she practises exclusively in the area of information technology, privacy and cybersecurity law. Her expertise spans outsourcing transactions, electronic payments agreements, systems acquisition, distribution, licensing, technology transfers, electronic commerce, privacy, electronic publishing and software development.

She represents producers and users of information technology in private industry and government. She has written and spoken on many aspects of IT law, has testified as an expert witness on the drafting, interpretation and negotiation of IT contracts and has served as an arbitrator on a panel dealing with an international IT dispute.

Her professional affiliations include the American Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, and the Canadian Bar Association.