Student Conference 2024

Audience

Members

Event images

Programme & Speakers

Thursday 18 April

• 09:00 - Breakfast & Registration
• 10:00 - Welcome & Introduction

  Speakers

  

  Lee Davies, Chief Executive, CIPA

  Lee Davies, Chief Executive, CIPA

  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.

  

  Ashley Tambe, Murgitroyd

  Ashley Tambe, Murgitroyd

  Ashley is a Trainee Patent Attorney at Murgitroyd. He joined the patent profession in 2021 after obtaining a First Class Honours in Civil & Structural Engineering at the University of Manchester. He currently focuses on drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to Mechanical Engineering inventions. Ashley is the present Honorary Secretary of the CIPA Informals Committee and is particularly passionate about ensuring CIPA student members are able to network, support each other, and access opportunities to enhance their technical and business development skills.

   

   

• 10:15 -Non-traditional Career Paths- Panel Discussion

  Speakers

  

  Philip Lenden, Simplify IP

  Philip Lenden, Simplify IP

  Phil founded his solo practice, Simplify IP, in 2022. He has worked as a patent attorney for over 10 years, both in small and large private practice firms, and in house for a global sustainable technology company. He has a chemistry specialism, and has practiced in areas including battery materials, renewable energy sources, OLEDs, food compositions, cleaning products, and small molecule pharmaceuticals and formulations.

  He founded Simplify IP to focus on providing clear, understandable, and commercially relevant IP advice relating to both mature and emerging technologies, making full advantage of his experience of working in different areas of patent practice, and using the flexibility afforded by going solo to provide a tailored service for all shapes and sizes of client.

  Phil is passionate about diversity and inclusion within intellectual property, especially neurodiversity, gender inequalities, and socioeconomic barriers to entry to the patent profession.

  

  Daryl Bradley, Arm Ltd

  Daryl Bradley, Arm Ltd

  Daryl is Senior Director and Head of IP Prosecution at Arm. He has a degree and PhD in Electronics from York and joined Arm in 2001 as an engineer, working on CPU design and research where he was named as an inventor on 16 patent families. Becoming interested in innovation and IP rights, he moved in-house to retrain as a patent attorney at Marks & Clerk where he qualified as a CPA and EPA. Rejoining Arm in 2013, he first managed patent prosecution for a variety of different technology portfolios, building out processes to manage the intersection of open source and patents, supporting M&A activities, before talking on the role of head of patent prosecution. Today, in his role as global head of IP prosecution he has a team of 9 people, a portfolio of over 10,000 active patents and applications and over 500 trademarks registrations to keep him and the team busy.

  

  Debbie Slater, Prevayl Ltd

  Debbie Slater, Prevayl Ltd

  Debbie works as a patent attorney with Prevayl Ltd: a new company developing wearable technologies.  She is a member of the CIPA Council, vice chair of the CIPA education committee and co-Editor of the CIPA Patents Training Manual.

  Florian Bazant-Hegemark, Concept IP

  Florian Bazant-Hegemark, Concept IP

  Florian Bazant-Hegemark has worked in the patent profession since 2010 and assists clients in various fields, including medical devices, manufacturing engineering, packaging, and in the construction industry.  Before his career in intellectual property, Flo worked with a start-up company that became a leading manufacturer of medical skin imaging devices.  As such, he understands the important role that intellectual property plays to help companies succeed.

  His expertise includes portfolio management, particularly how to use different types of intellectual property rights as business tools.  He is an expert in design right and regularly handles design registrations, both in the UK and EU-wide, to complement patent protection in the most appropriate way.

  His academic background includes an MSc and PhD from Cranfield University, where he studied Medical Diagnostics (focusing on using Optical Coherence Tomography in early cancer diagnosis). He also graduated as an engineer (Diplomingenieur) in Food Science & Biotechnology in Vienna, where he was employed several terms as a university tutor in Thermodynamics.

• 11:15 - The “New EQE” – here at last!

  Speakers

  

  Julia Gwilt, Appleyard Lees

  Julia Gwilt, Appleyard Lees

  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.  Several members of the PEC have been heavily involved in the proposal for a new digital EQE.

  

  Guy Warner Head of Patents, Ice Cream at Unilever, Co-Founder & Tutor at EQE Training Ltd.

  Guy Warner Head of Patents, Ice Cream at Unilever, Co-Founder & Tutor at EQE Training Ltd.

  Guy has never forgotten the hard work and commitment needed to pass our Patent Attorney exams and, ever since qualifying over 10 years ago, he has been a dedicated tutor for trainee European Patent Attorneys. In response to the sudden cancellation of the 2020 EQE exams, Guy – along with Iain Russell, Russell IP – set up the “Free EQE Webinar Series” to help candidates impacted by the cancellation. These webinars still continue, and their success led Iain and Guy to found EQE Training where they now realise their passion for elevating others through teaching, training, and coaching. Guy has been carefully watching and reviewing the EQE reforms: both through the lens of a student, and as a tutor. He looks forward to sharing his thoughts and advice on how current and future candidates can best adapt their training to prepare for the new EQE system.

• 12:00 - Break
• 12:30 - Starting out in patents: don't journey alone!

  Speakers

  

  Penelope Aspinall, Jonathan’s Voice

  Penelope Aspinall, Jonathan’s Voice

  Penny has nearly 30 years’ experience as a counsellor, psychotherapist and trainer, working in a range of settings, including Zeneca (Huddersfield), Arla Foods, the NHS and in private practice as a counselling and organisational mental health consultant. However, most of her career has been spent working in Higher Education, most recently at the University of Bradford as Head of Disability, Counselling and Mental Health. After leaving Bradford in 2018, she joined the Charlie Waller Trust where she continues to work as a developing and delivering training and creating written materials for both Charlie Waller and Jonathan’s Voice.  She joined Jonathan’s voice as Mental Health Consultant and trainer in March 2022

  

  Andrea Brewster OBE, IP Inclusive

  Andrea Brewster OBE, IP Inclusive

  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.

   

  

  Elisabeth Pauli

  Elisabeth Pauli

  Elisabeth joined Dehns in October 2022 as a Technical Assistant in the Chemical team. She has since received her PG Certificate in IP from Bournemouth University. At Dehns, Elisabeth is involved in the Charities Committee, but also outside of work, she has been active in helping people as a mental health advocate, recently appearing on the Two IPs in a Pod podcast talking about mental health.

• 13:15 - Lunch
• 14: 45 - Moot Court (Overview of case and Moot Court session)

  Speakers

  

  Richard Darby, Pupil, Three New Square IP

  Richard Darby, Pupil, Three New Square IP

  Richard was called to the Bar in 2023 and is currently undertaking a pupillage at Three New Square IP, a specialist intellectual property law set.   This is the final stage of training before becoming a practising barrister.

  Richard has an undergraduate degree and a PhD in materials science.  Prior to his barrister training, Richard qualified as a patent attorney at Carpmaels & Ransford where he enjoyed representing clients at numerous EPO hearings.  This fostered a love of advocacy and the law that is his focus today.

• 15:45 - Break
• 16:15 - Moot Court (Conclusion)

  Speakers

  

  Richard Darby, Pupil, Three New Square IP

  Richard Darby, Pupil, Three New Square IP

  Richard was called to the Bar in 2023 and is currently undertaking a pupillage at Three New Square IP, a specialist intellectual property law set.   This is the final stage of training before becoming a practising barrister.

  Richard has an undergraduate degree and a PhD in materials science.  Prior to his barrister training, Richard qualified as a patent attorney at Carpmaels & Ransford where he enjoyed representing clients at numerous EPO hearings.  This fostered a love of advocacy and the law that is his focus today.

• 16:25 - Business Development in IP

  Speakers

  

  Paul McCartney, E Business Coaching

  Paul McCartney, E Business Coaching

  Paul, with over 25 years in Commercial Radio, was responsible for generating £75m+ in revenue. In roles like Sales Marketing Director and Managing Director, he launched successful stations like Heart 106.2 and Saga Radio. Holding an MBA from the University of Leicester, he blends practical business experience with theoretical knowledge. Operating his business for 13 years, Paul emphasizes working on the right things at the right time for business progress. He assesses each client’s business through a Business Report, focusing on specific areas for fast results and sustainable growth.

• 17:10 - Hot Topics & Closing Remarks

  Speakers

  

  Ashley Tambe, Murgitroyd

  Ashley Tambe, Murgitroyd

  Ashley is a Trainee Patent Attorney at Murgitroyd. He joined the patent profession in 2021 after obtaining a First Class Honours in Civil & Structural Engineering at the University of Manchester. He currently focuses on drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to Mechanical Engineering inventions. Ashley is the present Honorary Secretary of the CIPA Informals Committee and is particularly passionate about ensuring CIPA student members are able to network, support each other, and access opportunities to enhance their technical and business development skills.

   

   

• 17:30-19:00 - Drinks Reception

Sponsors

• Exhibitor- Jonathan's Voice

  Jonathan McCartney was a highly respected patent attorney who worked for a well-known IP firm. He joined the IP profession in 2005, qualified in 2009, and became a partner. He masked his mental health struggles very well, and his suicide in 2017, aged 35, was an “out of the blue” event. Jonathan’s Voice was founded (registered charity number 1180424) in 2018 to promote good mental health and well-being in the workplace with a particular focus on the IP Profession. We deliver bespoke training and webinars on mental health and provide mental health guides; all are free, but donations are welcome. For more information visit our website at www.jonathansvoice.org.uk.

• Exhibitor- Informals Commitee

  

  The Informals Yellow Sheet stand is exactly as you might imagine… bright and yellow! Manned by our superb committee members, you can grab free notebooks and pens for the conference. Come and have a chat with committee members about anything and everything, including your training, being on the committee in the future, exam queries or concerns, or just a general natter.

  The Informals community is for all trainees, and anyone, no matter what stage of training you’re at, can volunteer to be part of the committee. Take a look at the website for more information. We act as a middle ground between CIPA and trainees like you, and communicate with PEB on examination.

  We regularly host events all over the country and online, and run a number of schemes you can get involved in. For example: regional socials (take a look at our website to find your regional secretary and drop them a line if you’ve got ideas for the next social), mentoring/buddy schemes, weekly lectures (foundational and advanced), sports events, coffee clubs, and more!

  We also have a literal ‘Yellow Sheet’ – our monthly (or so) newsletter published as part of the CIPA Journal. Take a look at the updates from various committee members including our Honorary Secretary.

  There is so much you can get involved with by being a committee member; from organising the Student Conference next year, becoming Editor of the Yellow Sheet or making a difference for another trainee by becoming a mentor in the buddy scheme.