Experience

Phillips & Leigh LLP

• Law Practice
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chartered Trade Mark Attorney

  • Jul 2017 - Present

  As a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney, my role at Phillips & Leigh is to help clients realise the strategic value of their brands through commercially driven advice underpinned by solid legal reasoning. I actively seek to understand a client’s business objectives to inform practical solutions, identify brand opportunities and devise focused trade mark filing programs. My practice revolves around clearing brands for use and registration, registering, enforcing and defending brands, dispute resolution and global portfolio management. This includes advising clients on entering and terminating TM licence agreements and interacting with the other side accordingly.I regularly co-present the "IP 101" module of the "Essential Toolkit for In-house Counsel" on behalf of Central Law Training and have also presented to a leading equity crowdfunder on "IP for Start-Ups".



Fieldfisher

• United Kingdom
• Legal Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Trade Mark Attorney

  • Jul 2010 - Jun 2017

  During my time at Fieldfisher, I worked with a diverse range of clients, with sector focus on food and drink, fashion, computer / video games and B2B publications, and advised on all aspects of brand protection.I dealt with many contentious matters and secured victories in adversarial proceedings before the EUIPO that were strategically important in wider commercial disputes. I advised on and registered trade marks related to one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, including numerous sub-series and spin-off game and media titles and game characters, as well as enforcing such rights through EU customs applications to secure the destruction of numerous shipments of infringing goods - both straight counterfeits and unauthorised third party products.I was also responsible for getting the slogan SCOTLAND’S ANIMAL WELFARE CHARITY protected as a trade mark in Scotland alone - this may well be the first UK trade mark to be granted geographically limited protection on an acquired distinctiveness basis after the change in UKIPO's policy to follow the EUROPOLIS decision.



Marks & Clerk

• United Kingdom
• Law Practice
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Trade Mark Associate

  • Sep 2001 - Sep 2008

  Working under a Partner with a large and varied practice, from Asian-based MNCs to UK-based SMEs, I was responsible for managing a heavy workload, that included ensuring all deadlines were met in a timely manner as well as having day-to-day responsibility for a number of client portfolios, which reflected my ability to co-operate with high-level clients or associates and target and prioritise particular cases.A member of the Firm's Japan Desk, I co-ordinated and advised a leading Japanese tyre manufacturer on the prospective new brand names across a number of European countries, all at a pre-agreed cost and by a stipulated deadline and, provided clearance advice on over 700 candidate marks for numerous high profile Japanese companies to a major Japanese IP consultancy.