The IPKat team: arrivals, farewells, and news

Every now and then, the IPKat team welcomes new contributors, says thanks and goodbye to existing contributors, and shares some news concerning the Kats. Check it out! 

InternKats

The IPKat is delighted to welcome the following as new InternKats for the next 6 months.

Sophie Corke - Sophie is currently studying the LLM in Intellectual Property & Information Technology Law at Trinity College Dublin, after spending a year as an intern in data protection litigation following the completion of her undergraduate degree in law at the University of Oxford. Perhaps inconveniently for someone originally from the UK, she is particularly interested in EU law and integration issues such as copyright harmonization. More on Sophie, here. 

Magdaleen Jooste - Magdaleen a is candidate patent attorney at a boutique IP law firm in the heart of South Africa. Here she gains experience in patent, design, trade mark and copyright law. After staying up for a few nights, she also completed five of her South African Patent Board exams. She holds a degree in Industrial Design from the University of Johannesburg and is currently completing her third year LLB. Fun fact: she started a course in Spanish, so she might be able to understand that there is more to Spanish than tacos and llamas. More information about Magdaleen can be found here. 

Anastasiia Kyrylenko - Anastasiia is currently pursuing her PhD degree in IP law at the Universities of Alicante and Strasbourg, as part of EIPIN-IS European Joint Degree Doctorate. Her main research interests (and, hence, her thesis) revolve around international IP law and regulation of IP in bilateral trade agreements. She takes additional interest in geographical indications, design law and her cat [Merpel says: now, of course, to be spelled as ‘Kat’!] Louis-Michel. Prior to joining the EIPIN-IS PhD, Anastasiia received a master’s degree in IP Law and New Technologies from the University of Alicante. She also has a background in technical assistance, having worked for several EU-funded projects dedicated to adapting Ukrainian legislation in line with the requirements of the EU/Ukraine free trade agreement. More information about Anastasiia can be found here. 

Goodbyes

The IPKat says goodbye to GuestKats Antonella Gentile, Ieva Giedrimaite, and Tosshan Ramgolam, as well as InternKats Kan He and Lucy Isaev, who have contributed to the blog for the past few months. 

We wish to thank them for all their enthusiasm and work! We hope we can continue collaborating with them in the future! 

News

Our AmeriKat, Annsley Merelle Ward is returning to her US roots when she joins US firm WilmerHale as Counsel at the end of the month in their London office based in Mayfair. There, she will be working on high stakes patent/SPC, SEP and trade secrets litigation in the telecoms and life sciences sector. In the role she will be continuing her contributions to IPKat and AIPPI, and on diversity and education initiatives including ChIPs. But most importantly, Merpel is now extremely jealous that the AmeriKat gets to avoid the rush-hour Tube on her work commute. 

GuestKat Alex Woolgar has joined Kemp Little LLP as a Senior Associate, where he works mainly with tech-focused businesses on all IP-related matters. 

TechieKat Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo has been appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Mexican Talent Network in the Netherlands (RdTM-NL), a non-profit association that belongs to Red Global MX which is located in 34 countries. The association aims to foster business opportunities as well as the development of projects in the academic and professional fields between Mexico and the Netherlands. Since 2015, Verónica has collaborated with the RdTM-NL providing IP legal advice and as a member of the Creative Industries Coordination, which is composed of several professionals in the Arts and entertainment fields. 

Asia Correspondent Tian Lu recently launched her consultancy firm IP Stork B.V. in the Hague, the Netherlands, dedicated to building EU-Sino IP bridges by offering IP services and practical advice on EU, Chinese and cross-border matters. 

Former InternKat Riana Harvey joins as GuestKat for the next months. Riana is a legal assistant at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), working with the litigation and legal policy teams on copyright matters for the recording industry worldwide.