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Matt Dixon is the Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and Executive Chair at Beck Greener LLP.

Passionate about building motivated teams backed by efficient systems to grow successful businesses, Matt has held significant leadership positions in several notable UK patent and trade mark firms. For over 15 years, he has been a prominent member of the Council of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the UK’s largest membership organisation in the field of intellectual property, serving as CIPA’s elected President in 2024. On behalf of CIPA he has actively promoted the capability of UK patent attorneys to represent before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and has provided evidence to UK Government regarding support for innovative SME businesses.

Matt’s technical expertise covers the broad fields of physics, engineering, electronics and software, working with companies in sectors as diverse as medical devices, wind turbines, robotic vehicles, online gambling, telecommunications security and air conditioning systems. In addition to providing commercially focused IP strategy advice, he has also represented major multi-national corporations in multi-party Opposition and Appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office, particularly in the field of medical devices, such as absorbent products, negative pressure wound therapy, auto-injectors and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Recently, Matt has represented clients before the Central Division of the UPC in Paris.

Prior to joining Beck Greener, Matt worked Of Counsel for an Aberdeen-based start-up patent practice, supporting the founder with the growth of the business. He has led the London office and the Engineering team of one of the UK’s largest IP firms. He founded the London office of a new IP practice with an innovative business model based entirely on fixed fees. He trained and qualified at one of the UK’s most respected patent and trade mark practices, becoming a partner in that firm’s Munich office.

Lee Davies has been the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) since February 2012. Prior to this, Lee was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute for Learning (IfL), the professional body for further education teachers. Lee’s professional background is in engineering (mechanical services) and further education teaching. Lee has experience of the governance of professional bodies, having served as the President of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) in 2011-12.
Lee says that such a varied career, from apprentice plumber to CEO of CIPA, via organisations such as the Highbury College in Portsmouth, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) and IfL, has left him a little confused about his professional identity. Lee now identifies as an ‘association leader’, although the concept of association leadership is, in Lee’s words, “woefully undervalued and little recognised in the UK”. Lee is a passionate advocate for the association sector and is President and Chair of the Institute of Association Leadership (IAL), where he leads the Chief Executives’ Forum.

Sophie Knott joined the IP profession in 2022 and is the Welfare Officer for the CIPA Informals. Established during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Welfare Officer position is dedicated to raising awareness for mental health and wellbeing within the trainee patent attorney community.

Sophie is supported by the Informals’ Wellbeing Working Group, and works closely with the mental health charity, Jonathan’s Voice. Together, they provide a wealth of mental health and wellbeing resources, including blog articles, webinars and monthly Wellbeing Coffee Clubs.

Joel has been in the profession for 6 years prosecuting, drafting, opposing and appealing decisions on related patents and patent applications at the UKIPO, USPTO, and EPO. Joel also has experience in international portfolio management. Recently, Joel has been consulting for large and international patent firms based in the UK and the US. Joel’s background is in Physics, and he has been working in the field of telecoms, electronics, aerosol generating devices, automotive technology, and software.

This year is Joel’s 5th year on the Informals committee, having previously been the blog editor, yellow sheet editor, and the Honorary Secretary. After last years’ successful return of the Moot Court, Joel is really looking forward to the second competition under his tenure, which is only going to be bigger and better than last years competition.

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.

Julia Gwilt is a partner at Appleyard Lees and specialises in software inventions.

She has had a passion for training for over 15 years.  As one of the patent attorney members who established the Patent Examination Board (PEB), she oversaw the UK professional examinations for over six years until her term ended in 2020.  She is now chair of the epi Profession Education Committee which oversees training and other aspects of the EQE for trainee European patent attorneys.  Together with other members of the PEC, she has been heavily involved in the proposal for a new digital EQE.

Darren Smyth is a UK and European Patent Attorney, and was the head of EIP’s chemistry practice group EIP Elements until 2023.  He now holds the position of Head of Knowledge, and is known as an authoritative commentator on IP issues, having been a regular contributor to the IPKat weblog and the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, and contributing the UPC reports to the CIPA Journal.  His practice is now heavily focussed on contentious work including EPO oppositions and UPC litigation.

Darren has a masters degree in chemistry and DPhil in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, and worked in Japan for two years at the Tokyo Institute of Technology before entering the patent profession.  Darren is an honorary professor at Queen Mary, University of London, where he teaches the Certificate and Masters courses aimed at trainee patent and trade mark attorneys.

Darren serves on the committee of IP Out, the LGBTQ+ community group within the IP Inclusive initiative in the UK Intellectual Property professions, and was a speaker at its inaugural event.  He is the convenor of the EIPride group within EIP.

Andrea is a Chartered Patent Attorney and a former CIPA President. In the past she has served on the Institute’s governing Council and several of its committees.

Before her retirement she was a partner in a small regional IP practice, Greaves Brewster LLP, of which she had been a co-founder.

Andrea established IP Inclusive in 2015 to promote equality, diversity, inclusion (EDI) and wellbeing throughout the UK’s IP professions. Alongside many enthusiastic volunteers, she has developed the initiative into a well-connected and influential player in the IP sector. She became its first Lead Executive Officer in 2019.

Sophie Knott joined the IP profession in 2022 and is the Welfare Officer for the CIPA Informals. Established during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Welfare Officer position is dedicated to raising awareness for mental health and wellbeing within the trainee patent attorney community.

Sophie is supported by the Informals’ Wellbeing Working Group, and works closely with the mental health charity, Jonathan’s Voice. Together, they provide a wealth of mental health and wellbeing resources, including blog articles, webinars and monthly Wellbeing Coffee Clubs.

Nickeal is currently a London Regional Social Secretary and has been on the Informals committee for two years. He joined Elkington and Fife in September 2021 and works in the electronics and mechanical group. Nickeal did the Queen Mary course in 2022 and sat the pre-EQE exam earlier this year.

Erin has recently qualified as a UK and European Patent Attorney. She works at Kilburn and Strode with a focus on medical devices. Now Erin is fully qualified she will be stepping down from the Informals after three years of being on committee.

Lee Davies has been the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) since February 2012. Prior to this, Lee was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute for Learning (IfL), the professional body for further education teachers. Lee’s professional background is in engineering (mechanical services) and further education teaching. Lee has experience of the governance of professional bodies, having served as the President of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) in 2011-12.
Lee says that such a varied career, from apprentice plumber to CEO of CIPA, via organisations such as the Highbury College in Portsmouth, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) and IfL, has left him a little confused about his professional identity. Lee now identifies as an ‘association leader’, although the concept of association leadership is, in Lee’s words, “woefully undervalued and little recognised in the UK”. Lee is a passionate advocate for the association sector and is President and Chair of the Institute of Association Leadership (IAL), where he leads the Chief Executives’ Forum.