Supporting New Entrants to the profession and returnees from Furlough

Jonathan Hewett, Venner Shipley

Jonathan is a partner in the electronics and engineering group at Venner Shipley LLP. Venner Shipley is one of the largest private practice firms in the UK, and has performed substantial recruitment at graduate level in recent years. Jonathan oversees internal training procedures at Venner Shipley LLP in relation to exam-based tuition and day-today professional development. Jonathan is also a member of the CIPA Education Committee.

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.

Vicky Maynard, Marks & Clerk LLP

Vicky is a proven IP specialist with a wealth of experience, working within various aspects of Intellectual Property. She has been working for Marks & Clerk LLP since October 2021 and in her current role as IP Training and Standards Manager since August 2022.

Her responsibilities include designing, implementing and delivering a training and development portfolio for the company’s national IP support teams, as well as co-ordinating with internal and outside counsel and clients to ensure that all business needs are met.

Vicky works very closely with the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys as a member of the Education Committee, and is the Vice Chair of the Administrators’ Committee. She is the Lead Course Tutor for the CIPA Introductory Patent Paralegal Certificate and is Chair of the sub-committee responsible for the development of the Advanced Patent Administrators’ Course. Vicky is also the only IP specialist in the UK working with the European Patent Office in order to develop and produce a structured and comprehensive certification for patent paralegals who work with, or for the European Patent Office. Vicky passed the CIPA Certificate in Patent Administration qualification in 2007. She became a Fellow of the Institute of Paralegals in 2011 and a qualified teacher in 2015. She passed the Post Graduate Certificate in Intellectual Property at Bournemouth University in 2018.

Emily Dodgson, Abel + Imray

Emily is a Senior Associate in the Physics, Engineering and IT group at Abel + Imray.  Abel + Imray takes on 4 or 5 patent trainees in a typical year and Emily coordinates the firm’s effort in relation to training of both patent trainees and their trainers.    Emily is a member of the CIPA Education Committee.