Practical advice for commercialising University IP through spin-outs from CIPA and LES

Dr. Claudia M. Duffy, EPA BSc, MSc, PhD (Cantab) Founder of Innovare IP and Alta IP

A former Scientist turned European Patent Attorney and IP Entrepreneur, Claudia has 10 years’ experience as a Research Scientist (in Munich and Cambridge), over 16 years’ experience as a Patent Attorney in both in-house (for two Cambridge University spin-outs) and private practice roles (in London, Cambridge and Edinburgh) and over 5 years’ experience as an IP Entrepreneur. She is the Founder of Innovare IP, a full-service practice of patent and trademark attorneys working with entrepreneurial communities, investors and universities and Alta IP, a LegalTech company developing a Suite of Apps based on digitised IP services.

Claudia is an Ambassador for Women Enterprise Scotland, a Professional Member of the Economy and Enterprise Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is also a Member of CIPA’s and EPI’s IP Commercialisation Committee.

Samantha Williams, Trinity College Dublin Knowledge Exchange Office and LES B&I Council

Dr Samantha Williams has a D.Phil. in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford and then worked in industry as a research scientist with Unilever Research in the United Kingdom. She then joined the Medical Research Council’s Technology Transfer Group based in London and continued to pursue a career in technology transfer, with over 20 years’ experience in both the UK and Ireland in the successful commercialisation of intellectual property arising in the academic sector. She has been Licensing Manager at Trinity College Dublin, since 2017 and is responsible for Trinity’s Intellectual Property licence agreements to established companies and to new Trinity spin-out companies.  She is also currently Chair of the Irish Chapter of LES Britain & Ireland and a Director of LES Britain & Ireland Ltd.

Graham Johnson, Appleyard Lees IP LLP and President of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) Britain and Ireland

Graham Johnson is a partner at Appleyard Lees IP LLP and President of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) Britain and Ireland.  As a dual-qualified patent and trade mark attorney with over 20 years’ experience, Graham has worked with both universities seeking to create spin-outs to commercialise their IP and businesses wishing to utilise university-originating IP