Meet Our IP Experts

Philippa is a patent and trade mark attorney with extensive EPO Opposition and Appeal experience.

Her long career as a partner in private practice spanned a broad range of mechanical and chemical technologies, as well as design and trade mark expertise. 

Philippa benefits from in-house experience working for a global personal care and nutrition company and for a pharmaceutical company.

She is a member of the Sustainability Committee of CIPA and enjoys walking in the Lake District.

Ilya is a qualified litigator, EPO Opposition and Appeal specialist and has handled over 4000 European patent applications from medical tech through physics to IT.  He has been noted as a world leading IP expert including Legal 500, Chambers, IAM Strategy 300, IAM 1000, MIP IP Stars. 

After 24 years growing a more traditional firm from almost unknown to about 200 people, he took what he had learnt to bring a fresh approach to the world of IP to deliver most efficiently what clients really need.

Dale is a UK and European Trade Mark Attorney and Design Attorney and also an Irish Trade Mark Attorney.

In addition to her numerous IP qualifications, she has an MBA from Warwick Business School and a Psychology Degree from the University of South Africa.

Her academic qualifications aside, she applies a very practical and commercial approach to protection of Trade Marks and gives pragmatic advice on integrating protection with branding strategy.

Chris started his distinguished IP career as a UK patent examiner before moving to a role as in-house patent counsel at GEC and then Motorola.

He then worked in a three private practice positions and is multiply qualified as a UK, European and Australian (now Trans-Tasman) Patent and Trademark Attorney. He first worked alongside the founder of IK-IP in February 2011 and we're pleased to have him join us.

He specialises in electronics, engineering and medical devices.

Dr Olivia Tsang has an MSCi in Physics from Imperial College London and a PhD in Astrophysics from Heidelberg University followed by over 13 years of experience in major London private practice firms.

She specialises in drafting and prosecuting inventions in the field of AI, Software, IoT, Computing, Apps, Physics, Medical Devices.

Her spare time is occupied by her young son and her hobby of climbing

Doug has unequalled experience obtaining patents primarily in information technology in all forms – from communications protocols through databases, media technology, applications and cloud systems to blockchain, AI and quantum computing.  With a first degree in Computer Systems and Software Engineering and further degree in Natural Sciences he gels naturally with some of the brightest innovators on the planet!

Doug worked with the founder for many years at another firm before joining in 2024.

Simon was head of British Telecom PLC IP department he joined in 1981 running a patent filing program in cutting edge IT and telecoms technology and conducting EPO hearings.

He combines commercial experience with solid legal knowledge and has tutored hundreds for EPO qualification.  His patents career began with a brief spell as an Examiner.  He switched to private practice 6 years ago drafting and prosecuting applications across IT and mechanical/physics areas and giving strategic IP advice.

Debra qualified as a mechanical engineer at Imperial College, London. After R&D at GEC she moved into IP at the Ministry of Defence then rose rapidly to head the IP department of a global packaging company before founding her own practice.

Her broad expertise spans design and manufacture of bottles, cans and medical devices to high-speed machinery. She is a member of the Designs & Copyright Committee of CIPA and enjoys music, science and literature events.

Pier Kidd has worked for leading private practice firms as well as major in-house IP users including Philips, BTG and Nokia.  He has thus been heavily exposed to licensing and exploitation and litigation, which gives his drafting and prosecution an alertness to what may come next even for the most seemingly "routine" case.

He has an electronics and electrical engineering degree  and handles all manner of deep science, mechanical, computing and telecoms cases.

Kevin is exceptionally qualified as both a European and US Patent Attorney and he comes from a distinguished in-house role at IBM working in software, AI and quantum computing, as well as litigation, licensing, and contract work.

His experience (USPTO Examiner/Boston private practice/multinational in-house) makes him uniquely suited both to understanding our major clients' needs and working efficiently with our US associates.

He also happens to be highly musical, an ocean swimmer and pizza expert.

Debra studied engineering at Cambridge University and worked in the aerospace industry before training as a UK and European patent and trade mark attorney. 

After spending fifteen years in-house in the aerospace and defence sectors she moved to private practice in a Munich where she spent over twelve years before joining us. 

As a result of her in-house experience, Debra brings to her practice a client’s perspective as well as her experience in commercial aspects of intellectual property.  

Alan was head of IP for Glaxo Wellcome for 9 years before returning to private practice so he has unequalled credentials in chemistry and life sciences, as well as strategic use of all aspects of IP in a major high-level setting.

He has a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry but has experience in his career of mechanical subject matter as well as chemical. 

Aside from deploying his immense IP experience to assist clients small to large he founded Indigena Biodiversity,  which promotes global biodiversity.

Before becoming a patent attorney, Olly designed digital electronic circuits (FPGAs & microprocessors), analogue electronic circuits (laser diode drivers, motor controllers and switch mode power supplies), and RF and microwave circuits (linear amplifiers, synthesisers and filters).  

He is an expert on computer graphics and microprocessors.  A solo motorbike tour had him changing gearboxes, head gaskets and water pumps in far flung corners of the globe.  He knows his stuff.

Emilie is a qualified European and Belgian patent Attorney.  She trained at CEIPI for European and French Law.

Emilie's impressive technical background in chemistry and biotech began with graduating as a chemical engineer from the European School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials in Strasbourg (France) followed by a PhD from the University of Exeter (UK).  Having worked extensively in R&D in various biotech companies before the switch to IP gives her particular insight into clients' issues.

Theo is an experienced German and European Patent attorney with an engineering degree from the TU Dresden. His technical focus is currently on mobile communications and mobile security. In recent years he has supported large companies as an in-house patent attorney in strategically managing and enforcing large patent portfolios. In his leisure time he enjoys being with his family as well as alpine sports. 

Phil has an MA in Physics from Oxford University and is a Cambridge University Engineering Department manufacturing and design postgraduate.

He completed his patent attorney training in private practice, worked in-house for one of the world’s largest computer and software firms and has returned to private practice specializing in patent drafting and prosecution in the field of engineering and physics, particularly electronic and computer systems.

Richard has an extensive knowledge and experience of the creation and exploitation of IP to maximise value, acquired through over 40 years in many different sectors including time with Koninklijke Philips, British Telecom and British Technology Group, an IP Licensing Company.  Over the last decade Richard has focussed on supporting small companies as they start to develop their approach to IP, while also working as an expert witness in FRAND/SEP litigation around the world.

Jon took a Masters in philosophy from Cambridge University before returning to his love of computing.

 Jon helped build the iTunes Store at Apple, and large scale machine learning systems at Microsoft Research. He led a deep learning team at Samsung Research and has shipped products for large companies and start ups in finance, telecom and graph analytics. 

A bonus is having a world class expert for our IP attorneys to consult on ML tech.

Clare has worked in patents for many more years than it would be polite to mention.

In view of that we won't mention that she first worked alongside the founder a quarter of a century ago. Her no-nonsense pragmatism and genuine care to see a job done well in a positive environment and a happy client drove her to join IK-IP.

When not setting our poor founder straight, her husband and son and local rugby club get the benefit of her vocal energy, including her unique karaoke skills.

Our seasoned developer has been affectionately named "The Chinius" for his labour saving tech developments.

After Chemistry at Imperial his passion for computers drove him through several blue chip computing organisations. Chi shares our unrelenting drive to make things better.

He's also a versatile DIY enthusiast, excelling in automation, repairs, and culinary experiments. His trusty British Shorthair cat Wonton and robot vacuum cleaner vie for his attention while he is coding.

Natalie has worked as a patent paralegal for longer than she cares to have mentioned here at a number of UK patent firms.

Natalie first worked with the founder almost a decade ago and joined IK-IP with a shared ethos of working as team player with a real focus of seeing happy clients.

Since Natalie is embarrassed to admit she used to be in a band and is musical we won't mention that here.

Sumetha has an MSc in Biomedical Engineering and is currently completing a PhD with research focussed on wearable sensors in advanced care.

Her tech interests led her to consider a career in IP and she is helping in a number of areas of our operation.

 In her spare time she enjoys performing a South Indian classical dance form called Bharatanatyam.