Mini-Biographies
Gill Grassie. Gill has been a partner with Maclay Murray & Spens LLP in their Edinburgh office since 1993 and has specialised for some 15 years in IP and IT litigation and dispute resolution in the Scottish arena. Her experience spans the whole gambit of contentious intellectual property including both soft and hard IP. She has recently been involved in patent litigation relating to pharmaceuticals and trade mark litigation in relation to parallel imports in the luxury and pharma sectors, as well as the whisky industry. She also has considerable recent experience in IT contract disputes and anti piracy matters. Gill is an accredited IP specialist and a member of INTA, ITMA and CIPA.
Philip Woods, Head of IP/IT, Hill Dickinson LLP. Philip has specialised in Intellectual Property law for over 30 years in Hong Kong, the Pacific Rim and the United Kingdom. Philip covers the full range of intellectual property and technology related matters, both contentious and non-contentious. He is involved on a day to day basis with substantive patent and other intellectual property right infringement actions and also has considerable expertise in licensing of intellectual property rights, merchandising, e-commerce and computer and technology development and technology transfer agreements. His clients include technology and engineering companies, universities, textile and textile machinery companies, packaging companies, television and radio production companies, clothing and retail chain and computer software companies. Philip is a founding member of The Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation, a member of the Licensing Executives Society, and an associate member of the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys and the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
Georgy Evans Georgy has been in legal practice since 1989, qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters in 1991 and as a registered trade mark attorny in 1996. She joined SmithKline Beecham in 1996, working first on OTC / Consumer Healthcare brands and from April 2003 headed GlaxoSmithKline’s prescription pharmaceuticals team, Europe. After a brief encounter with reality TV on the BBC’s Beyond Boundaries programme in which a group of people with disabilities went on an expedition from Victoria Falls to the Skeleton Coast in Namibia via Etosha National Park and the Namib desert, she returned to law being appointed Head of Trade Marks at Shell in April 2005. As well as supervising the full range of trade mark clearance, registration and opposition work, she has enforcement management experience, including anti-counterfeiting. She is on the the Management Committee of PTMG (Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group), editing its journal Law Lore & Practice, and is a non-executive director of TIPLO (The Intellectual Property Lawyers Organisation). She has spoken at many confererences over the years including PTMG, Brand Management Forum, Anti-Counterfeiting Group, EuroForum, the UK’s House of Commons and the Brussels IP Summit 2006.
Denise McFarland - Barrister & CEDR Trained Mediator. Area of Practice – All aspects of Intellectual Property; patents, trade marks, copyright, designs, passing off and confidential information, licensing and franchise matters, in the UK and EU. Extensive experience as a trial and tribunal advocate, and acting as a mediator and arbitrator. Appointments CEDR Trained and Qualified Mediator, Member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorney’s Disciplinary Board, Member of British Council – AIPPI (UK), UK Committee Member –TIPLO, Nominet (UK) Independent Expert, Founding Member of the IP and Media Mediation Group,Member of ADR Chambers Specialist Mediation Panel , CEDR Panel of Mediators and ACI Panel Member, Former Professional Board Examiner for the Institute of Trade Mark Agents Professional Examination Board
Anna Carboni: After taking a degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, Anna transferred to law and qualified as a solicitor into Linklaters’ Intellectual Property department in 1988, became a partner in 1996, and a solicitor-advocate in 2000. Keen to spend more time in Court and less time in management, she was called to the Bar and joined Wilberforce Chambers in 2003. Anna’s practice spans the full range of intellectual property and information technology law. She litigates disputes and advises on issues concerning trade marks, copyright, designs, patents, database rights, domain names, computer contracts, comparative advertising, confidential information, data protection and privacy law. Appearing regularly in the Courts, Anna has particular experience of urgent interim applications. She also represents clients before the UK IP Office and OHIM. A member of Nominet’s Panel of Experts and a CEDR Accredited Mediator. Actively involved in INTA, PTMG and other organisations and a regular conference speaker. On editorial Boards of ETMR and the Journal of IP Law & Practice.
