Event Listing

Debbie Slater, Granta IP Services Ltd & Chair of CIPA Education Committee

Debbie is a Senior Patent Attorney at Granta IP Services Ltd. She is a member of Council and Chair of the Education Committee. She is a Co-Editor of the Patents Training Manual and currently working on the development and delivery of the Advanced Patent Paralegal Course.

Catherine Bonner, Murgitroyd

Catherine Bonner files and prosecutes patent and design applications across a wide range of mechanical engineering and physics-based subject matter, including medical technologies, telecommunications, photonics, high speed devices, switches and quantum technologies including encryption, electronics, fintech, software, gaming equipment and systems, fibre optics and cybersecurity.

Working with a broad range of clients including early-stage companies, SMEs and multinational corporations, Catherine also provides advice on invention harvesting, product clearance and the commercial management of IP rights, in addition to industrial designs.

Having graduated from St Andrews University with a Physics degree, Catherine went on to complete a PhD at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (University of Southampton). Her PhD research related to planar waveguide devices.

After entering the profession in 1999 and spending many years in private practice, Catherine joined Murgitroyd in 2019 following the acquisition of Chapman IP. Prior to joining Chapman IP, Catherine spent three years as a patent attorney in the intellectual property division of Dyson Technology.

A tutor within the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys’ tutorial programme, Catherine is one of the authors of the CIPA training manual for trainee patent attorneys. She regularly lectures on intellectual property law at both the University of Southampton and University of Reading.

Ben Hoyle, Hoyle IP Services Ltd

Ben Hoyle brings a rare combination of technical expertise and legal experience to the discussion of AI in legal practice. A qualified UK and European Patent Attorney with over 20 years’ experience, he also runs Simibrum Limited, an AI development company, where he works hands-on creating AI systems. After studying Information Engineering at Cambridge University, Ben built a career drafting and prosecuting software and AI inventions for clients, as well as building side projects that tested out the growing developments in machine learning. Ben thus has an intimate understanding of the legal aspects of protecting AI, and the practicalities of building AI.

Jonathan Hewett, Venner Shipley

Jonathan is a partner in the electronics and engineering group at Venner Shipley LLP. Venner Shipley is one of the largest private practice firms in the UK, and has performed substantial recruitment at graduate level in recent years. Jonathan oversees internal training procedures at Venner Shipley LLP in relation to exam-based tuition and day-today professional development. Jonathan is also a member of the CIPA Education Committee.