CIPA & APTMA Regional Meeting: Dublin

Audience

All

Programme & Speakers

Wednesday 12th March

• 12:30-13:30 - Registration and Lunch
• 13:30-13:40 - Introduction from the chair

  Speakers

  

  Hazel Tunney, Trade Marks & Designs Partner

  Hazel Tunney, Trade Marks & Designs Partner

  Hazel is an experienced Irish and EU Design and Trade Mark Attorney, having joined the IP community over 20 years ago and qualifying in 2003. With a background in science and law, she specializes in the agri-industry, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage sectors. Hazel advises internationally renowned brands and local businesses on securing and defending Trade Mark and Design rights, with expertise in Irish, EU, and international Trade Mark issues. She is noted for designing strategic and cost-effective search and filing programs and is passionate about online IP protection and social media.

  Hazel has held leadership roles within APTMA, serving as Chair of its Social Committee, Vice President in 2018, and President in 2023. Committed to education, she has tutored candidates for Irish Trade Mark Agent exams for nearly a decade and lectures at institutions such as Trinity College Dublin and GMIT. Recognized for her contributions, she was named Lawyer of the Week by The Times in 2019, listed among Managing IP’s “IP Stars,” and featured as one of the Top 250 Women in Intellectual Property globally in 2019 and 2020.

  A prolific writer and speaker, Hazel has contributed to publications like the World Trade Mark Law Report and co-authored a chapter in Trade Secrets Throughout the World. She is an active member of ECTA, PTMG, and INTA, where she has served on various committees focused on anti-counterfeiting, enforcement, and trademark office practices.

• 13:40-13:45 Introduction to First Session
• 13:45-14:15 - Overview of the UPC and activities of the court – The journey so far

  Speakers

  

  Kai Härmand, Judge, Nordic-Baltic regional division

  Kai Härmand, Judge, Nordic-Baltic regional division

  Estonian Kai Härmand is the second permanent judge at the Nordic-Baltic regional division. Like Stefan Johansson, she is currently only involved in the UPC cases pending before this division. Parallel to the UPC, Kai Härmand has been a judge at the Harju County Court since 2020. Prior to this, she was deputy secretary general at the Estonian Ministry of Justice and a legal adviser at the Estonian Patent Office. Between 2006 and 2014, Härmand was a legally qualified member of the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal.

• 14:15-15:10 - Overview of Key Decisions of the UPC – Litigation and Learnings for practitioners

  Speakers

  

  Michael Finn, Partner, Bird & Bird

  Michael Finn, Partner, Bird & Bird

  Michael’s practice focuses on complex contentious intellectual property and technology matters, and domestic and international commercial disputes. Michael also has an extensive experience in regulatory disputes and investigations, product liability, and judicial review. He has a particular focus on the life sciences and technology sectors. Michael has acted in some of the leading intellectual property, technology and commercial disputes in Ireland and have extensive experience advising on Irish Commercial Court litigation, and ADR.

  

  Dr. Daniela Kinkeldey, Partner, Bird & Bird

  Dr. Daniela Kinkeldey, Partner, Bird & Bird

  As a partner in the intellectual property team in Munich, Daniela advises and represents clients in IP law, particularly in life sciences.

  While her technical speciality is in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry, she also represents clients in other fields of chemistry including fibres and inorganics, as well as medical devices such as IV catheters, artificial heart valves and respiratory masks.

  Daniela also has in-depth experience in European and German patent law, obtaining patents, defending and attacking patents in opposition proceedings before the German and European Patent Office and acting in nullity suits before the German Federal Patent Court and the Federal Supreme Court. She had additionally gained vast experience before the UPC from day 1 when the UPC opened its doors

• 15:10-15:25 - Refreshment break
• 15:25 – 15:30 Introduction to Second Session
• 15:30-15:50 - Developments at Intellectual Property Office of Ireland

  Speakers

  

  James Kelly, Controller of the IPOI

  James Kelly, Controller of the IPOI

  A native of Craughwell, Co. Galway, James is a career Civil Servant who first joined the IPOI in 1991, working in various roles for over 15 years. He was a National Expert with the European Commission in Alicante working on the establishment of the EUIPO. James spent 5 years in the Intellectual Property Unit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment where he was responsible for Trade Marks, Designs and IPR Enforcement policy.

  James has spent the past 4 years as an Adjudication Officer and Mediator with the Workplace Relations Commission based in the southeast. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Law (LL.B.), a BA in Public Management and a Dip. in Legal Studies. He is also a certified mediator with the Mediation Institute of Ireland.

• 15:50 - 16:35 - SPC Update: CJEU Judgement in C-119/22 and C-149/22 Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) – What does this mean for combination drugs?

  Speakers

  

  Lawrence Cullen, Lawrence Cullen IP Consulting

  Lawrence Cullen, Lawrence Cullen IP Consulting

  Dr Lawrence Cullen was a Deputy Director at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the UK from 2007 to 2024 where he had responsibility for operational delivery of Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). He has recently left this role to establish his own consultancy and to develop his interests further in the role and relevance of SPCs. Dr Cullen joined the IPO in 1997 as a patent examiner in the chemistry field and worked in a variety of operational, technical and policy roles in patents and trademarks before taking on the Deputy Director role. He has extensive experience working in the area of pharma and biotech patents as well as SPCs. Dr Cullen has a wide experience as a hearing officer dealing with questions of validity. He has been directly involved in over 50 patent and over 25 SPC cases before the IPO, the UK courts and, prior to 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). He has also worked as a hearing officer dealing with trade-mark disputes. Dr Cullen was educated in chemistry in Ireland and the UK and worked as a research
  scientist at various universities in Europe and USA before joining the IPO.

• 16:35 – 17:00 - Discussion about intersection of AI and GDPR from an IP Perspective

  Speakers

  

  Dr Margaret Hartnett Co-Founder, progressio.ai

  Dr Margaret Hartnett Co-Founder, progressio.ai

  Dr Margaret Hartnett is a widely published, award-winning, IP expert and Artificial Intelligence researcher and inventor.

  A triply qualified (EU, UK, IE) patent attorney and trademark agent, Dr Hartnett has represented a vast spectrum of clients from SMEs, Universities and the largest tech corporations for almost 25 years.  Unusual for a patent attorney, Dr Hartnett is also a former Director of Legal and Operations of an AI-driven tech company.  In this role, she dealt with the broad range of day-to-day legal issues encountered in tech companies, including open source licensing.  Driven by this experience, Dr Hartnett adopts a pragmatic and holistic perspective of IP usage, wherein she specifically recognises and addresses the importance of open innovation and open-source software to the success and growth of the tech sector

• 17:05-17:10 - Closing Remarks
• 17:10-19:30 - Drinks Reception