The IPKat team: arrivals, farewells, and news

As it has become customary for our blog, every few months the IPKat team adds new members for the next 6 months, and says goodbye to some contributors.

Goodbyes

First, we say a BIG thanks and wish all the best to longstanding IPKat contributor Mark Schweizer who, as readers know, has been appointed President of the Swiss Federal Patent Court. We also thank and say goodbye to Stephen Jones, a very experienced IP lawyer and current President of CIPA.

New team members

Mirko Brüß 

We welcome the following new GuestKats:

Mirko Brüß – Mirko conducted his law studies at the University of Hamburg, finishing with the “First Legal State Exam” (Law Degree), and undertook post-graduate studies in commercial law at Hamburg. 

He clerked at the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, finishing with the “Second Legal State Exam” (Bar Exam). 

Having worked as an attorney-at-law at Rasch Rechtsanwälte, Mirko is now an attorney-at-law at Waldorf Frommer Rechtsanwälte. You can learn more about Mirko here.

Nedim Malovic

Nedim Malovic - A Swedish/English/Bosnian native/bilingual speaker, Nedim holds an LLM in European IP law from Stockholm University. 

He currently works as a trainee at IP litigation firm Sandart & Partners in Stockholm, where he tackles a variety of legal matters. 

A specialist chef of pre-cooked Swedish meatballs, if you happen to travel to Stockholm let him know! You can learn more about Nedim here, and follow him on Twitter here.

Frantzeska Papadopoulou

Frantzeska Papadopoulou - Currently an Associate Professor and Reader in IP law at Stockholm University as well as at Linnaeus University in Sweden, Frantzeska holds an LLM and a doctorate from Stockholm University. 

Before accepting a full-time tenure at Stockholm University, she was the head of the IP department at the Swedish Association of Industries. 

Frantzeska’s research interests focus on patent law and regulatory law as well as on matters that relate to the international regulation of IPRs. You can learn more about Frantzeska here.

Rose Hughes

We are also joined by the following new InternKats:

Rose Hughes - Rose is a patent assistant at leading intellectual property firm Reddie & Grose LLP and takes a keen interest in all aspects of IP. 

She has extensive experience handling a variety of patent cases, particularly in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, and of patent drafting and prosecution in a broad range of jurisdictions, including Europe, US, Japan and China. You can learn more about Rose here.

Ieva Giedrimaite

Ieva Giedrimaite – Ieva holds proficiency in copyright and patent protection for computer software, open source and commercial software licensing, commercial contract drafting, review and negotiation, copyright policy drafting and compliance, patent and trademark application/prosecution procedures within the EU and US jurisdictions, FTO and EEA export controls. 

Ieva holds a Master of Laws degree from Vilnius University and an LLM degree from Trinity College Dublin with specialisation in Intellectual Property Law. 

She has carried out academic research in the fields of copyright protection for the user generated content, Unified Patent Court and international transfers of personal data.You can learn more about Ieva here.

Some news

Finally, we have some news to share about our current team.

As readers remember Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo is officially our first TechieKat, while Hayleigh Bosher has been appointed Book Review Editor, and Tian Lu is our first Asia Correspondent, reporting on news and developments from this continent.

Nicola Searle will be on sabbatical from The IPKat for the next few months.

***

We all look forward to a new and IP-rich 2018. Many thanks for reading our posts, and be part of our community!