Training & Courses:
Licensing

Arnaud Gasnier

Arnaud Gasnier is founder and CEO of Patentopolis BV. With 20 years experience in IP, he has practiced globally in various IP (patents, trademarks) departments and in various leading roles (Patent Attorney, Licensing Associate, Portfolio Manager, Associate General Counsel) for Swatch, Philips, adidas and Dutch contract research organisation TNO. He is a qualified European Patent Attorney. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 Patentopolis and Arnaud won IP Awards for best IP management, attributed by Acquisition International based on a survey among professionals in the industry.

Tim May

Tim is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Finnegan LLP. He has over 20 years’ experience in the field of US patent law, with significant experience counselling clients on software patent matters. Tim currently manages the patent portfolios for several European clients in various software, medical device and electrical and mechanical technologies.

Alan Boyd

Alan Boyd is a partner at D Young & Co. Before he joined the patent law profession, he was a software engineer researcher and research assistant. Alan’s main areas of expertise include computer architectures, embedded systems, digital electronics, telecommunications and networks. He is a member of D Young & Co’s electronics, engineering & IT team, and has a great deal of experience in drafting and prosecuting patents for a range of clients. He is also an examiner for the legal paper in the European Qualifying Exams.

Andy Spurr

Andy Spurr is a patent attorney at Canon Europe, specialising in software related inventions with a particular focus on video encoding and standard essential patents. Before joining Canon, Andy spent 8 years at a private practice IP firm where he worked with numerous software start-ups, advising on how to best leverage their IP to create commercial value.

Daniel X Thomas

Daniel X. Thomas is an electronics engineer by training. He started his career in the patent field as search examiner at the former Institut International des Brevets in The Hague in 1971. After incorporation of the IIB into the EPO in 1978, he was search examiner in the EPO’s DG1. He joined the EPO’s DG2 in 1979 as substantive examiner in the field of computers and memories. He became a Director in DG2 in 1989, and subsequently headed directorates in various fields of electronics, physics and mechanics.

Sally Shorthose

Sally Shorthose is one of the leading intellectual property (IP) partners at Bird & Bird. She provides a full range of intellectual property commercial advice and support to her clients, including licensing, partnering and exploitation agreements, research, development and marketing collaborations. She also frequently advises clients on regulatory and ‘freedom to operate’ matters and manages significant due diligence matters.

James Pearson

James Pearson, an Associate at Bird & Bird, is an experienced non-contentious and transactional IP lawyer, regularly advising clients in relation to the transfer of intellectual property rights, both in the context of stand alone transactions or as part of complex corporate matters including international M&A, corporate re-organisations and investment transactions. He is also experienced in advising on the commercialisation and exploitation of intellectual property rights, primarily in relation to the assignment or licensing of software, trade marks and patents, working with clients across a variety of sectors including media and entertainment, technology, sport and healthcare and life sciences.

Tom Darvill

Tom Darvill is an Associate in the Intellectual Property Group at Bird & Bird. He has acted for clients in a number of international arbitrations, predominantly relating to high-stakes IP licensing disputes. These have been conducted under various arbitration rules (including ICC and WIPO), seated in multiple jurisdictions and have involved the application of a wide variety of national laws, including English, US, French, German and Finnish. Tom also advises clients in relation to a broad range of contentious IP matters relating to patents, copyright, trade marks, passing off and breach of confidence, including actions in the UKIPO, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. This includes a particular expertise advising clients in relation to disputes over the licensing of standards essential patents according to F/RAND principles and copyright (including references to the Copyright Tribunal).

Joeri Beetz

Joeri Beetz, Patent Attorney, Keltie LLP, specialises in patents in the fields of mechanical engineering, physics and control software. Amongst all the different technologies he has been extensively involved in are optical recording, medical devices, agricultural equipment, lighting, displays and automotive. He regularly represents clients in opposition procedures at the EPO, both to defend and to attack patents. Joeri spent nine years in a Dutch patent firm based in Eindhoven, after five years of working at the in-house patent department of CNH Industrial. He joined Keltie in 2017. During his in-house period he managed a large patent portfolio for a broad range of different combine harvesters. At CNH Industrial, he built an extensive expertise in freedom to operate and patent infringement analysis and gained a keen insight in the commercial implications of different IP strategies. In 2002, Joeri obtained his masters degree in physics at the University of Utrecht. In his final year at University, he built and tested equipment for testing particle detectors for the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Leythem Wall

Leythem Wall is a partner in The Hague office of European IP specialist firm HGF. He is a European and UK patent attorney with extensive experience in patent drafting, prosecution and oppositions before the European Patent Office. Having worked in private practice and industry for European and US companies, he also has significant knowledge of the US patent system, and how this compares with Europe.