CTC Legal's Second London IP Conference

UK Supreme Court

Author Kelsey Farish  Licence CC BY 4.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

Last week's Winter Intellectual Property Conference by CTC Legal Events was different from almost every  IP conference or seminar that I had previously attended.  For a start, there were very few slides.  I had prepared some for my talk on FRAND, as had Maria-Christina Peyman of Birketts for her review of leading IP cases, but most of the topics were moderated discussions.  Secondly, the conference took place in the magnificently equipped London campus of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.  Thirdly, the organizers attracted some of the biggest names in IP, such as Professor Sir Robin Jacob, a former Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal and Sam Williams, Head of Intellectual Property at Siemens.  A lot of information was squeezed into the 5th and 6th of November.  The organizers covered that ground by splitting the discussions into two tracks.

Adrian Howes and I launched Track B with a discussion of "FRAND licensing for standard essential patents ("SEPs") between 10:50 and 11:35 in an auditorium known as the "MBA Room" on the first floor.  We had previously presented papers on FRAND to the IP Law Summer School at Cambridge, and it was good to work with Adrian again. Before delivering our presentations, we asked the audience to indicate by a show of hands their experience and knowledge of FRAND.  Just under half claimed some expertise, while a small group at the back of the room stated that they worked regularly in the field.  I took the audience through the basic definitions, the concepts of "holding up" and "holding out", the leading cases between Birss J's judgments in Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and another [2017] EWHC 711 (Pat) (5 April 2017) and Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Another (#2) [2017] EWHC 1304 (Pat) (7 June 2017) and the Court of Appeal's in  Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd and another v ZTE Corporation and others [2025] EWCA Civ 1383 (31 Oct 2025) and HMG's recent consultation on SEP Licensing.  Adrian said that most FRAND licences were agreed and he gave some details of the negotiation process.  As the Head of IP and Standards and IP Policy at Nokia, he discussed the laws in other countries, including China and the USA.  He mentioned the EU Commission's proposals and consultation.  I had mentioned the WIPO's SEP Case Law Collection and the IPO's Glossary in my talk.  Adrian was able to say that he had actually worked on the IPO's resources page on FRAND.

The next event in the MBA Room was on trade secrets which I moderated.   The speakers were Maryna Blurock, a European Patent Attorney, Head of IP at Höganäs AB, Douglas Gordon, Head of Intellectual Property at Leonardo UK and Professor Luke McDonagh of the London School of Economics.  I started the discussion by reminding the audience that all inventions had started life as trade secrets and that many remained such.  We discussed the protection of trade secrets in the UK, Sweden and Ireland before the Trade Secrets Directive and the subsequent effects of the Directive on our countries' legal systems.  I had hoped to compare and contrast trade secrecy protection in Europe and the USA but sadly, there were no Americans in the room.   We did discuss the disclosure requirements to obtain a patent monopoly, though Douglas helpfully reminded us of the provisions of s.22 of the Patents Act 1977.  We finished on the remedies for breaches of trade secrecy obligations in Europe, the USA and elsewhere and the procedure for obtaining them.

Although Russia is subject to sanctions, there will come a time when it will be possible to trade with and invest in that country.   The first discussion in the MBA Room after lunch was "Russia in Focus: IP Strategy Amid Legal and Market Complexity," by Riikka Palmos, Senior Partner at Papula Nevinpat.  Sadly, I had to miss that session because it clashed with a client conference by video link.

In the morning, there had been an introduction and welcome by Sam Williams in the main room on the ground floor.  Shr esd followed by sessions on "Strategic Global IP Portfolio Management to maximize innovation and IP integrity", "Tackling Trademark and Branding Challenges in global markets", "Fighting Counterfeiting and Global IP Fraud," "Interactive Roundtable Sessions", "Managing complex global IP portfolios across all stages of the pharmaceutical pipeline" and "The Next Chapter of Patent Searching: Automation with AI Workers."

The first session in Track A that I attended was "Domain Name Challenges & IP: Strategies for Brand Protection" with a panel that included Helen Stanwell-Smith, Head of Brand Protection at ITV and Magdalena Hesse of Next.  It was followed by "Protecting Brands in the Digital Marketplace: IP Challenges on Online Platforms and Influencer Channels" with contributions from Olivia Mazzucotelli, Head of Brand & Industry Relations and Reactive Governance, IPR at TikTok Shop, Malia Ladd, VP of Product at IP House, Alastair Gray, Director of AntiCounterfeiting at INTA, Murphy Fan
IP Specialist of POP MART Overseas Legal at POP MART and Jose Enrique Blasco Ruiz, IP Specialist Europe at POPMART.  The day's session was closed by Sam Williams.

Drinks and canapes were offered to attendees between 17:00 and 19:00.  I would love to have attended that event because my fellow speakers and the delegates were at the top of their careers and brimming with ideas and information but I had a ticket to Robert Hastie's Hamlet at the National Theatre with Hiran Abeysekera in the title role, Ayesha Dharker as Getrude and Francesca Mills as Ophelia.  I would not have missed that show for the world.

The next morning's sessions in Track A were opened by Sir Robin Jacob.   He was followed by Andrew Masterson in a fireside chat with Lizzie Morters of Regeneron.   I was in the next session with Rose Hughes of Evolve and Erick Robinson of Brown Robinson on "Developing effective IP strategies for start-ups and entrepreneurs." We discussed developing a strategy, implementation, funding, dispute resolution and sources of help. Coming from different backgrounds, we brought different experiences and insights to the session.  I mentioned my work with the Menai Science Park, simple IP strategies for startups, more sophisticated ones for scaleups, integrating strategies into companies' business plans, resolving IP disputes, obtaining the right professional advice and the science park's pro bono initial advice and signposting clinic.  We were followed by David Jenkins  of the IPO and Paul Foster of Stellantis, who discussed "Recognizing the influence of Media and Public Perception in IP Enforcement." The next session was "Copyright in the Headlines: Protecting IP in the Evolving Digital Media Landscape", a conversation between Thom Chapman, President at Victura Media, Trevor Albery of Warner Brothers, J Alan Davies of the British Film Institute and Sam Williams.  The last session in the main room was "Bridging the Gaps – A Holistic Approach to IP Protection Across Stakeholders", a discussion between Farnaz Massoumian of Vodafone, Andrew Masterson and Bénédicte Moulin of Zwift.

After lunch, there was a fireside chat on "AI in Business: Realities, Risks & the Future," a fascinating discussion between Martin Brassell of Inngot and Koben Achok of Convera on "Maximizing the Value of IP Assets: From Valuations to Financing & Investment Opportunities" which was one of the highlights of the day, a presentation on Madrid by Lucy Headington-Horton, and Maria-Christina Peyman's review of "Key IP Cases and Global Legal Developments."

On Track B, there were talks on "Al and the future of patent drafting and prosecution," "Strategic possibilities in the UPC era: leveraging the UPC potential for patent enforcement," and "Building AI Responsibly: Collective Licensing and UK Rightsholders."

I should say a word about the catering.  A healthy and wholesome lunch was served each day and there were breaks for morning coffee and afternoon tea.   However, hot drinks and mineral water were available throughout the day, together with fresh strawberries and other temptations.  It was definitely a way above average.

This is only the second conference that CTC Legal has held in London, and I think it has been an unqualified success.   Everyone seemed to enjoy it.   I learnt a lot.   The company is already planning a Spring conference in Thailand.  Anybody wishing to discuss this topic may call me on 020 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact form.