21Mar
Regional Meeting

Thursday 21 March

East of England Regional Meeting 2024

When and where

Date and time

Start: Thursday 21 March 2024, 12:30 PM

End: Thursday 21 March 2024, 07:30 PM

Location

Graduate Hotel, Graduate Hotel, Granta Place, Cambridge, CB2 1RT

Event Overview

The East of England Meeting will be taking place on the 21 March 2024 at the Graduate Hotel.

Get ready to connect with fellow professionals at the East of England Regional Meeting. Discover exciting developments in IP, network with like-minded individuals, and gain valuable insights from our speakers.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of East of Englands’s vibrant and dynamic community. Register now to secure your spot and be a part of the East of England Regional Meeting!

Programme to be announced shortly.

Audience

Programme & Speakers

  • 12:30 - 13:30 - Registration & Networking Lunch
  • 13:30 - 13:40 - Introduction by Chair
    Speakers
    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw is one of the UK’s leading Intellectual Property (IP) litigators, with almost 30 years’ experience of helping clients to protect their intellectual assets – in particular patents and trade secrets.

    He is well-known for his work in life sciences and healthcare sectors, as well as technology where he has extensive experience in navigating clients through complex FRAND negotiations.

    Huw has acted for clients on both the enforcement and defence of infringement claims at all jurisdictional levels. Much of his work has focussed on cross-border disputes relating to patents rights across industry sectors including mechanical and software, telecommunications, MPEG, FinTech, ink jet printing, oil and energy, pharmaceuticals, antibodies, immunoassays, diagnostics and food. He also has extensive experience in providing freedom to operate advice and working with clients with the launch of new products in crowded IP fields both from the brands and patents perspective.

    Huw is consistently ranked in the top tier of IAM 1000’s prestigious World’s Leading Patent Professionals publication who have described him as having “considerable experience across the life sciences, healthcare and high-tech fields that has cemented his reputation as a very capable IP lawyer with a business-oriented mindset”. He is also ranked in other major legal directories such as The Legal 500 and Chambers UK who have described him as “very able, responsive and commercially minded” and as a “very impressive IP litigator who …. keeps the big picture in mind”. Huw is also a patent star in the IP Stars guide.

  • 13.40 – 14.25 - Privilege: what do patent attorneys need to know and to what extent does it apply?
    Speakers
    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw is one of the UK’s leading Intellectual Property (IP) litigators, with almost 30 years’ experience of helping clients to protect their intellectual assets – in particular patents and trade secrets.

    He is well-known for his work in life sciences and healthcare sectors, as well as technology where he has extensive experience in navigating clients through complex FRAND negotiations.

    Huw has acted for clients on both the enforcement and defence of infringement claims at all jurisdictional levels. Much of his work has focussed on cross-border disputes relating to patents rights across industry sectors including mechanical and software, telecommunications, MPEG, FinTech, ink jet printing, oil and energy, pharmaceuticals, antibodies, immunoassays, diagnostics and food. He also has extensive experience in providing freedom to operate advice and working with clients with the launch of new products in crowded IP fields both from the brands and patents perspective.

    Huw is consistently ranked in the top tier of IAM 1000’s prestigious World’s Leading Patent Professionals publication who have described him as having “considerable experience across the life sciences, healthcare and high-tech fields that has cemented his reputation as a very capable IP lawyer with a business-oriented mindset”. He is also ranked in other major legal directories such as The Legal 500 and Chambers UK who have described him as “very able, responsive and commercially minded” and as a “very impressive IP litigator who …. keeps the big picture in mind”. Huw is also a patent star in the IP Stars guide.

    Dr Bobby Mukherjee, CIPA Vice President, BAE Systems plc

    Dr Bobby Mukherjee, CIPA Vice President, BAE Systems plc

    Dr Bobby Mukherjee, Chief Counsel, IP & Technology Law – BAE Systems plc and Past President (2012-2014) of the IP Federation. He is the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) Vice-President, President-elect as of 1 January 2024. He previously served and currently sits on CIPA Council, and chaired the CIPA Internal Governance Committee in its formative stage.

    Bobby is a qualified UK and European patent attorney with over 28 years’ experience of IP gained in private practice and at BAE Systems plc. He is currently the Head of IP (2009 -) at BAE Systems plc (a FTSE 30 company), which has one of the largest in-house IP teams in the UK. During Bobby’s IP Federation Presidential term, Bobby played a prominent role, on behalf of Industry, in actively engaging with the Parliamentary stages of the UK IP Bill 2013-2014. This resulted in the UK IP Act 2014, with a positive outcome for Industry. He currently sits on the IP Federation Council and until recently, chaired the IP Federation Trade Working Group. On behalf of the IP Federation, he gave evidence in January 2023 on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) IP provisions to the influential House of Commons International Trade Select Committee. As a direct result of the IP Federation’s diligent work to which Bobby significantly contributed since 2018, the UK is acceding to CPTPP on terms which do not threaten European Patent Convention membership, and which promote international harmonisation of patent laws, another long-standing IP Federation goal. This is a successful outcome for UK plc, and the wider UK patent profession.

    Bobby’s career has mostly been spent in the physics field, obtaining and defending patent protection for new products, processes and services globally. He gained a first degree in Natural Sciences (specialising in Physics) from Cambridge University in 1990, and then a Doctorate Degree (D.Phil.) on High Temperature Superconductors from Oxford University in 1995. He has published various research papers in leading Scientific Journals during that time, and during his work experience at the National Physical Laboratory.

    Bobby has been named a Corporate IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property every year since 2015.

    He received the Legal 500 UK individual of the Year 2019 award for IP. He has been listed on the IAM Strategy 300: World’s leading IP Strategists (2022 and 2023).

    In his spare time, Bobby enjoys spending time with friends and family, travelling, and closely following cricket.

  • 14.25 – 15.10 - How to manage Trade Secrets in-house: stories from the frontline.
    Speakers
    Arnie Francis, Appleyard Lees

    Arnie Francis, Appleyard Lees

    Arnie is one of the few people in the UK to have qualified as a UK and European patent attorney and solicitor of England and Wales. This provides him with a deep understanding of the full lifecycle of a patent, from conception through to commercialisation and enforcement. Over the course of his career, he has worked in both private practice and in-house at one of the world’s leading telecommunication companies. He uses this unique experience to help his clients solve complex and commercially important IP problems through the integration of his technical, legal and commercial expertise.

    Arnie has worked across a broad spectrum of computing and engineering technologies, including graphics processing, video coding, telecoms and AI, building particular knowledge of drafting and prosecuting patent applications to overcome the patentability exclusions relating to computer programs and mathematical methods. He also has extensive experience of claim charting high-value standard essential patents (SEPs), both during prosecution and as part of litigation preparations. His experience of SEPs extends to active litigation, where he was part of the team working for InterDigital to secure the second ever global FRAND determination by the UK court.

    In addition to patents, Arnie has a keen interest in other IP rights he believes are important as part of a robust, commercially focused IP strategy. This includes trade secrets and the implementation of trade secrets policies, a topic he has been invited to speak on in front of both domestic and international audiences.

    Arnie holds a first class degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge where in his final year he specialised in astrophysics, graduating first in his year. He also holds an Msc in Computational Aeronautics from Imperial College, London, graduating with Distinction.

    He qualified as a UK patent attorney in 2015, a European Patent Attorney in 2016 and as a solicitor of England & Wales in 2024.

    Anne McAleer, Paragraf Ltd

    Anne McAleer, Paragraf Ltd

    Anne McAleer is responsible for the definition and implementation of Paragraf’s strategy to maximise the value of its IP in graphene electronics. Paragraf’s ground-breaking deposition technology enables manufacture of graphene devices at scale. Before Paragraf, Anne was Senior Director of IP at IDEX Biometrics, a fingerprint identification technologies provider where she was instrumental in negotiating license agreements to IDEX’s patents in biometric enrolment of fingerprints. Anne spent 10 years managing patents at semiconductor company, CSR, overseeing the filing and prosecution of 2400 patents in Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS. During that time, Anne supported due diligence during numerous M&A transactions, including the sale of CSR to Qualcomm. Prior to working in IP management, Anne was a product manager in UbiNetics, a 3G chipset and test equipment developer, and a technology consultant at PA Consulting Group. Anne is named as an inventor on 15 patents.

    Claire Bennet, Five AI Limited

    Claire Bennet, Five AI Limited

    Formerly a Partner at global law firm DLA Piper and Bird and Bird. Intellectual Property & Technology specialist. Physics graduate (University of Cambridge).

  • 15.10 – 15.40 – Refreshment break
  • 15.40 – 16.25 – UPC: A brief update – where do we stand, and what have we learned 9 months in?
    Speakers
    Alexis Augustin Gowling WLG

    Alexis Augustin Gowling WLG

    Alexis is a senior associate who specialises in industrial property, registered at the Paris Bar.

    His practice is focused on patent law, trademark law, know-how and unfair competition, covering both litigation and contractual aspects.

     Alexis advises French and international clients in various technical fields including pharmaceuticals (drugs and medical devices), telecoms, automotive industry, and cosmetics.  He has successfully represented pharmaceutical companies in patent and SPC litigations before French Courts; advised a leading international company in the telecom field in a dispute before the French courts relating to a SEP/FRAND licence; and obtained and supervised the implementation of infringement seizures prior to the filing of infringement actions.

     In 2022, Alexis was recognized as an IP rising star by Managing IP magazine.

  • 16.25 – 17.10 - One IPO: Countdown to launch of the IPO's digital transformation
    Speakers
    Simeon Bowen, IPO

    Simeon Bowen, IPO

    Simeon is Communications Lead for the One IPO Transformation Programme. He has worked in public sector communications for over 10 years, having previously worked in a variety of comms roles at the Office for National Statistics and UK Statistics Authority. Simeon joined IPO two years ago and acts as a key link between IPO developers and customers. In his spare time, Simeon is an avid gamer and a Tae Kwon-do instructor.

  • 17.10 – 17.20 - Closing remarks from Chair
    Speakers
    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw Evans, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP

    Huw is one of the UK’s leading Intellectual Property (IP) litigators, with almost 30 years’ experience of helping clients to protect their intellectual assets – in particular patents and trade secrets.

    He is well-known for his work in life sciences and healthcare sectors, as well as technology where he has extensive experience in navigating clients through complex FRAND negotiations.

    Huw has acted for clients on both the enforcement and defence of infringement claims at all jurisdictional levels. Much of his work has focussed on cross-border disputes relating to patents rights across industry sectors including mechanical and software, telecommunications, MPEG, FinTech, ink jet printing, oil and energy, pharmaceuticals, antibodies, immunoassays, diagnostics and food. He also has extensive experience in providing freedom to operate advice and working with clients with the launch of new products in crowded IP fields both from the brands and patents perspective.

    Huw is consistently ranked in the top tier of IAM 1000’s prestigious World’s Leading Patent Professionals publication who have described him as having “considerable experience across the life sciences, healthcare and high-tech fields that has cemented his reputation as a very capable IP lawyer with a business-oriented mindset”. He is also ranked in other major legal directories such as The Legal 500 and Chambers UK who have described him as “very able, responsive and commercially minded” and as a “very impressive IP litigator who …. keeps the big picture in mind”. Huw is also a patent star in the IP Stars guide.

  • 17.20 – 19.00 – Drinks reception with canapés

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