The IPKat Team

PermaKats

Eleonora Rosati

Following a successful blogging debut with the copyright-oriented 1709 Blog, Eleonora, who is Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, accepted the call to join the team after serving a stint as a GuestKat. She is Full Professor of IP Law at Stockholm University and Of Counsel at Bird&Bird. Additional academic positions include: Visiting Professor at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Guest Professor at CEIPI-Université de Strasbourg, External Examiner at Trinity College Dublin, Research Associate and Lecturer at EDHEC Business School, Visiting Faculty at Glion Institute of Higher Education, Associate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge, and Member of the External Advisory Board at Centro de Investigação de Direito Privado-University of Lisbon. Eleonora further holds the distinction of doing a better Italian accent than any other member of the regular blog team. Eleonora is the author of several academic articles and books, including - most recently - Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Article-by-Article Commentary to the Provisions of Directive 2019/790 (OUP:2021) and Copyright and the Court of Justice of the European Union (OUP:2023) second edition; she is also the editor of the Routledge Handbook of EU Copyright Law (Routledge:2021) and co-editor of Developments and Directions in Intellectual Property Law. Twenty Years of The IPKat (OUP:2023). Eleonora has been the recipient of accolades and prizes for her work in the IP field : in 2018, Managing Intellectual Property included her among the '50 Most Influential People in IP'; in 2020, World Intellectual Property Review listed her among its 'Influential Women in IP'; in 2022, she received the Adepi Award 2022 for her contribution to shaping the interpretation of IP law in Europe. More details on Eleonora here; Twitter here; LinkedIn here.

Annsley Merelle Ward

Better known as the AmeriKat, though not exclusively tied to that tag, Annsley has been a permanent member of the blog since 2009. After over 13 years on the blog, she is no longer the kitten of the team, but is now inspiring the next generation of IP lawyers with her efficient research and powerful writing. An intellectual property litigation partner at WilmerHale she holds law degrees from University College London and the University of Bristol and has a background in science having studied chemical engineering at the University of New Mexico. Although she specialises in cross-border patent and trade secret litigation in the TMT and life sciences sectors, Annsley's interests span all aspects of contentious IP. She also enjoys reporting on legislative reforms and policy, as well as ways to make the profession more inclusive and diverse through her role as Chair of the London Chapter and Co-Chair of Europe of the ChIPs Network (more details here).  In 2019 she was listed as one of the 20 Top IP Trailblazers by WIPR and is a Rising Star for Patent Litigation by Managing IP (2017-2022).

Merpel

Merpel McKitten 

Merpel has been adding her own pithy comments to those of the IPKat since 2004. While the IPKat is a fairly simple soul, who (unless he is having one of his occasional rants) is generally quite pleased with the world and everything in it, Merpel has a much more sly and cynical side to her; she's also prone to make the occasionally provocative or mischievous pronouncement. She is empowered to post her own blogs but is generally far too busy enjoying life to bother doing so; one of her favourite occupations is to sit at the IPKat's shoulder while he is blogging, pointing out spelling errors and telling him where he's just plain wrong. Merpel is not the pseudonym of any particular member of the blog team: she is a common resource and can be given voice by any one of us. Oh, and one more thing: Merpel and the IPKat are just good friends ...  You can write to Merpel at merpel.ipkat@gmail.com

GuestKats

Kevin Bercimuelle-Chamot 

Kevin discovered IP while studying at the University of Southampton, UK. He had the opportunity to do work placements at a leading law firm specialised in fashion litigation & Warner Music France. He also often contributes to the Revue Lamy du Droit de l’Immateriel (Lamy Wolters Kluwer). More information about Kevin here.

Jocelyn Bosse 

Jocelyn is an intellectual property law lecturer at Queen's University Belfast. Her work focuses on the relationship between intellectual property and plants, food, and agriculture. She holds degrees in Law and Plant Science from the University of Queensland, Australia, where she also completed her PhD. She enjoys sharing her growing collection of plant puns, regardless of whether her students and colleagues want to hear them. More details on Jocelyn here.

Alessandro Cerri

Alessandro works as in-house legal counsel in the global IP team of Warner Bros. Discovery, based in the UK. He primarily focuses on trade marks as part of his current position but has been involved in matters spanning across a range of soft-IP rights (particularly, copyright and design right disputes) in previous roles, whilst in private practice. Despite being a GuestKat, Alessandro is actually more of a dog person in real life (don’t tell Merpel!) and somewhat of a sausage-dog enthusiast. More information about Alessandro can be found here.

Anastasiia Kyrylenko

Anastasiia, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and a consultant on IP matters for EU-funded projects. Her research interests include EU trade agreements, geographical indications, and design law. Thanks to a Marie Curie Alumni Association grant, she wrote a handbook titled "EU Design Law: Theory and Practice", published in Ukrainian in open access format for local policymakers. She also acted as policy adviser to Ukrainian government in matters of IP reform (2020-2022). Anastasiia is currently researching the role of Spanish regional authorities in identifying and consolidating geographical indications, with a two-year research grant from the Regional Parliament of Castilla-La Mancha. More information about Anastasiia can be found on Linkedin and on Twitter.

Marcel Pemsel 

Marcel is a German-qualified lawyer. He works in the field of soft IP with a focus on trade marks, designs, and unfair competition. Marcel enjoys litigation, in particular. After his studies at the University of Hamburg and his traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, he completed his LL.M. at an even colder and windier place, namely Aberdeen in beautiful Scotland. Marcel has been working in the IP department of Gleiss Lutz since 2012. More information about Marcel can be found here.

Anna Maria Stein

Anna Maria is an Italian-qualified lawyer and has been practising IP for over 20 years. She is Of Counsel at Eversheds Sutherland Italy in the IP and Commercial Department. Anna Maria deals with issues relating to trade marks, patents, designs, trade secrets, copyright and antitrust – both in and out of the courts. She likes to work in international environments, especially cross-border and multi-jurisdictional litigation. In recent years, Anna Maria has been selected for European Commission programmes to support SMEs and young Designers on IP, innovation, and digitalisation. You can learn more about Anna Maria here.

SpecialKats

Verónica Rodríguez Arguijo

Verónica has the honour of being the first TechieKat. She is a Qualified Lawyer with extensive experience in the prosecution, enforcement, and litigation of IPRs. Passionate about IP Law and tech-related legal issues, she has studied and worked in different countries. Verónica has provided legal advice to multinational corporations, associations and SMEs in relation to cross-border IP, regulatory and contractual issues. She holds an LL.M. from Maastricht University and a Specialization from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, both in IP Law. Verónica also contributes to the IPTango blog and the Intellectual Property Chapter of the Encyclopedia of Information Technology Law (Westlaw). More details on the TechieKat here.

Antonios Baris

Antonios is a certified Greek lawyer and a member of the Thessaloniki Bar Association since 2021. He currently serves as a legal intern at the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO). His academic credentials include an LLM in European Intellectual Property Law from Stockholm University, an MA in Art Law and Art Management from the International Hellenic University, and an LLM in Legal Theory and Interdisciplinary Legal Studies with a focus on copyright law from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Most importantly, Antonios is now embarking on a new journey to establish himself in the pop music scene as an AI music producer. More on Antonios here.

Rose Hughes

PatKat Rose is a Senior European Patent Attorney for AstraZeneca, specialising in large-molecule pharmaceuticals. Rose manages complex patent filing strategies in a rapidly expanding and diverse IP portfolio, including cell therapies. Rose also has a PhD in immunology and infectious disease from University College London. You can learn more about Rose here.

Chijioke Okorie

Chijioke has over a decade of law practice experience having been called to the Nigerian Bar since 2006 and practised in one of Nigeria’s leading commercial law firms. She holds an LLM in Internet Law and Policy from the University of Strathclyde and a doctorate from University of Cape Town. Chijioke is a lecturer and Senior Researcher in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Prior to her appointment at the University of Pretoria, Chijioke was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Intellectual Property, Innovation & Development at the University of Cape Town and a Queen Elizabeth Scholar under the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) project. She also runs Penguide Advisory, an IP, Technology and Development consultancy. Highly regarded in African IP law circles, Chijioke is a regular contributor to Afro-IP Blog and is a Chartered Mediator as well as a peer reviewer for a number of IP law journals. More about Chijioke on LinkedIn and Twitter, here.

InternKats

Söğüt Atilla

Söğüt is a DPhil in Law candidate at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the pastiche exception to copyright law and on understanding its applicability to AI-generated art and music. Söğüt completed the MJur at the University of Oxford and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law from Bilkent University. She has worked as an associate tutor at the University of Warwick, as a lecturer at the Fashion Law Institute İstanbul, and as the editor of a student-led online fashion law magazine. Söğüt is the author of the academic article Dealing with AI-generated works: lessons from the CDPA section 9(3), published by the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. More details on Söğüt here.

Asude Sena Moya

Asude is a Turkish-qualified lawyer pursuing a Master's in Intellectual Property at the KDI School in Korea. Her interest in IP started during her senior year of law school, followed by continuous improvement. She believes we can improve ourselves if we work on a topic we are keen on. In addition to her passion for IP, she is also passionate about the Korean language and Analog photography. More details on Asude here.