Venner Shipley News
See below for a round-up of the latest VS news as featured in our Spring/Summer 2021 Inside IP!
Meet our new attorneys
With the growing requirements of our clients, we continue to increase our international presence and build upon our expertise. We are delighted to welcome Kirsty Simpson and Mechthild Liebelt to our team.
We are also delighted to welcome Carine Makendi to our team of fee-earners as a biotech trainee.
Kirsty Simpson
Partner, UK and European Patent Attorney
Kirsty is in our Chemical and Life Sciences team and has experience of drafting patent applications, prosecuting them around the world and regularly handles Oppositions and Appeals before the European Patent Office. Kirsty’s practice covers inventions across a broad range of the biotechnology sector such as gene therapy, vaccines, antibodies, recombinant DNA technology, immunology, siRNA, sequencing and screening methods and diagnostics. Kirsty also has experience in handling SPCs and large freedom to operate and due diligence projects.
Mechthild Liebelt
European Trade Mark & Design Attorney, German Attorney-at-Law
Mechthild is admitted to practice before the German Patent and Trademark Office DPMA and the European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO based in our Munich office. Mechthild specialises in the drafting and the prosecuting of German, European and International trade marks and manages international trade mark portfolios, including closely cooperating with client’s trade mark representatives and coordinating with local attorneys on worldwide trade marks. She has extensive expertise in enforcing, exploiting and licensing of trade marks at national, European and international levels, handling proceedings at the EUIPO as well as dealing with opposition and appeal proceedings before the German Patent and Trademark Authorities. Mechthild also advises on non-contentious and contentious trade mark and copyright matters and domain name disputes.
Exam success
It has been an extremely busy few months for some of our colleagues and we are delighted to announce that their hard work has paid off. Eleven of our trainees passed the Queen Mary Certificate in IP Law. Over half of those with distinction!
Congratulations not only to them but also our trainees who were successful in the UK patent exams and the pre-EQE exam.
Venner Shipley Client Listening 2021
As we are entering the post COVID-19 world and we are back on the road to some kind of normality, we want to take this opportunity to understand any changes in client expectations and anticipating client needs as thoughts now turn to building on some of the surprising opportunities the past year has provided. In addition to improving our service delivery, feedback gathered through our online questionnaire and a series of in depth interviews will also help inform our strategic decisions on where we need to invest and innovate our service provision to best support you in the future.
Watch out for an email from us or alternatively please email ClientListening@vennershipley.co.uk and please make sure to share your views!
Other news
Lockdown may have kept us away from the office but we have continued to stay connected, inclusive and sociable; supporting charities, industry-wide projects including IntoUniversity and the STEM Ambassadors projects.
In March, IntoUniversity hosted a quiz to raise crucial funds for the work that they do in providing educational support to young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Two teams from Venner Shipley took part, and together with over 200 other supporters, IntoUniversity staff and more, over £5500 was raised.
Keeping social
Keeping in touch and having fun with our colleagues has been more important than ever over the last year, we have been staying connected and active as a firm, fully embracing the power of virtual quizzes, murder mysteries, HIIT, yoga and dance classes.
“In what has been a difficult year for many, we are proud to have continued to grow as a firm while keeping the health and well-being of our team always at the forefront of our minds. As we begin to emerge from this pandemic, we look forward to catching up (in-person) with all our employees, clients and friends alike!”
– Jan Walaski, Managing Partner
