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Chair – Katharine Stephens, Two Birds

I am fascinated by IP and the challenge of helping my clients protect, exploit and defend their IP rights to further their business objectives.

I have a broad IP practice, mostly focused on litigation of patents, trade marks and designs. I have considerable experience of coordinating and running patent litigation in more than one jurisdiction and in designing and implementing pan-European protection and enforcement programs, running one such program for a consumer electronics client for almost 10 years.

I am lucky enough to be able to make use of my engineering background and over the years have done a lot of work in the engineering and tech & comms sectors, advising clients such as Nokia, BAE Systems, Semtech and InterDigital. More recently, I have been advising on AI issues – something which I find of particular interest since my final year dissertation for my Masters degree was in robotics.

I also enjoy the strategic and tactical nature of my work, whether it be in relation to advising on the protection, exploitation or the defence of my client’s IP rights. I am very focused on getting the best result for my clients, be it through litigation, negotiation or other forms of dispute resolution.

For 18 years I was co-head of the London IP department and, for many of those years, had a role in the running of the international IP group. As a consequence, I know the international IP group very well and enjoy helping clients find the best person or team to assist them.

I am very focused on training and mentoring the next generation of IP lawyers. I write and speak regularly at industry events and am an active member of the IP Federation and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

My Admissions
Law Society of England & Wales in 1992
Higher Courts (Civil Advocacy) Qualification in 2019

Dr. Christopher Maierhoefer, Two Birds

As an experienced patent litigator, I represent clients in national and cross-border patent infringement cases, nullity and opposition proceedings before the Federal Patent Court and the European Patent Office as well as in patent co-ownership proceedings. Together with my colleagues from our international offices, I also give strategic advice on how to develop the best pan-European patent enforcement or defence strategy, making use of the particularities and procedural options available in the different jurisdictions.

Another important part of my practice is the increasingly important field of trade secrets and know-how protection. I assist clients in all aspects of safeguarding their valuable know-how, ranging from developing internal know-how protection policies, through drafting and negotiating of relevant contracts with suppliers, customers and cooperation partners to conducting trade secret litigation.

Over the years, I have also developed great expertise in the field of transactional and contractual IP, with a particular focus on drafting and negotiating of patent and know-how licensing contracts, R&D agreements and agreement for remuneration of employee inventions.

Prior to joining our firm in 2011, I spent four years working as an IP attorney at an international law firm in Berlin with a focus on technology transfer and patent licensing transactions.

I am an active member of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) and the German Association for Intellectual Property and Copyright law (GRUR).