Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Ken Seddon, CEO of LOT Network, about the increasing influence of non-practising entities (NPEs) and the growing role they play in patent litigation through the acquisition and assertion of patents. The discussion explores LOT Network’s “herd immunity” model, under which member companies automatically receive a licence if patents are transferred to an NPE, helping to mitigate patent risk across sectors including technology, automotive, banking, and...
May 27, 2026•31 min
Send us Fan Mail “Courts competing” might sound odd, but it can lead to what clients actually crave: faster and more predictable decisions. Joining Lee and Gwilym for this episode, recorded at INTA 2026, in London, are Tammy Terry , a Texas-based patent litigator, and Daniel Chew , a UK and European patent attorney and Chair of our International Liaison Committee. They consider how different forums shape strategy, not just outcomes, and how cross-border collaboration is becoming more important f...
May 22, 2026•31 min
Send us Fan Mail Recorded at INTA, this latest episode explores the challenges businesses face when protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights overseas, and the practical steps organisations can take to strengthen their international IP strategy. Kayleigh Nauman, Adin Samson, and Samuel Stone discuss the risks businesses can encounter when expanding internationally, from trademark disputes and enforcement costs to misconceptions around automatic IP protection across borders. The conve...
May 21, 2026•40 min
Send us Fan Mail This episode features Deborah A. Hampton in conversation with Gwilym Roberts and Lee Davies, exploring the realities of modern trade mark practice, leadership, and career development within intellectual property. Deborah reflects on her journey from working as a receptionist in a paralegal department to becoming a global brand enforcement leader and the President of INTA. She discusses how trade mark administrators and IP paralegals play a far more strategic role than often reco...
May 07, 2026•30 min
Send us Fan Mail To mark World IP Day’s sports theme, we explore how intellectual property quietly shapes the world of winter sport, from performance and safety to sponsorship and visibility. Drawing on stories from the Olympics and beyond, we unpack how patents, trade secrets, and open standards influence everything from the equipment athletes use to the way competitions are run and experienced by fans. In this episode, we cover: How parabolic skis transformed technique and speed The patented s...
Apr 23, 2026•42 min
Send us Fan Mail The rules of qualification aren’t being rewritten overnight, but the questions are getting sharper. We sit down with Debbie Slater, Chair of CIPA’s Education Committee, to unpack the IPReg Education Review and what it could mean for anyone training as a UK patent attorney or trademark attorney over the next few years. The focus is forward-looking: what skills, knowledge, and professional behaviors should someone have at the point of registration, and how do we build training and...
Apr 02, 2026•50 min
Send us Fan Mail Lee and Gwilym are joined on the podcast by Laura Whiting from Freshfields and Arty Rajendra from Osborne Clarke. Ever wonder who decides the price of your medicine, the terms behind your 5G connection, or why your favorite streaming platform keeps changing codecs? We sit down with two leading IP litigators to pull back the curtain on the high-stakes world where innovation meets the courtroom—life sciences, telecoms, and the streaming wars. First, we unpack how patents power the...
Mar 12, 2026•49 min
Send us Fan Mail Virginia Driver recounts entering a profession that once enforced skirts and skepticism, then earning credibility across computing, telecoms, and the smartphone wars, where old devices became courtroom gold. That history matters: it shaped her insistence that AI must be auditable and accurate, not just fast. We unpack the real sweet spot for AI in patents—deep analysis across thousands of documents, transparent claim mapping, and outputs a human expert can verify. No hype, no bl...
Mar 05, 2026•36 min
Send us Fan Mail What happens when the European Patent Office’s CTO and COO says the hardest part of technology isn’t the code, it’s the culture? Lee and Gwilym sit down with Angel Aledo Lopez to unpack how AI is changing the way patents are examined, filed, and managed, and why human judgment still anchors the system.
Feb 25, 2026•46 min
Send us Fan Mail A squash ball to the ear is a painful reminder that sport isn’t just competition, it’s design, data, and decisions that protect and perform. From that opening jolt, we dive into the fast-moving world of sports technology with guests Dave Holt and Stephen Moore of Potter Clarkson, exploring how innovation is built, protected, and brought to life for pros and everyday athletes alike. By the close, we’ve mapped a practical playbook for founders, rights holders, and teams: anchor bo...
Feb 11, 2026•46 min
Send us Fan Mail What should a newly qualified patent or trademark attorney be able to do on day one, and how should we train for a world shaped by AI, shifting client needs, and the public interest? We sit down with IPREG’s education review lead, Sally Gosling, joined by Katie Flett, to unpack the biggest rethink of qualification in years. From defining core capabilities to asking who even finds their way into IP, we explore the decisions that will shape careers, employers, and the users of the...
Jan 29, 2026•45 min
Send us Fan Mail A chemist hears a patent attorney speak and sees a future. Years later, that same attorney is directing a national patent office and helping rewrite how innovation gets protected. This conversation with Maja Schmitt travels from labs and in‑house roles to China and The Hague, and lands on a bold policy move: the Netherlands is returning to examined national patents after years of registration-only grants....
Jan 09, 2026•40 min
Send us Fan Mail We celebrate five years of IP conversations with a festive look back at the moments that shaped the show. From lockdown origins to Earthshot wins and live sessions at INTA, we share what we learned from judges, founders, and the quirks that make IP human. • Launch during lockdown and early interviews with sole practitioners and Tim Moss - link to episode here. • Judges’ perspectives with Sir Colin Birss (link here ) and Sir Robin Jacob (link here ) • Seaweed innovation, Notpla’s...
Dec 22, 2025•24 min
Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered who actually turns evolving case law and global agreements into the rules you use every day? We sit down with Heli Pihlajamaa, Principal Director of Patent Law and Procedures at the EPO, for a candid tour of how European patent law is shaped, tested, and delivered at scale. From examiner guidance to implementing regulations and user consultation, Heli opens the black box of decision‑making and shows how the system stays predictable while technology races ahead....
Dec 17, 2025•41 min
Send us Fan Mail Mental health training for line managers represents the most valuable investment an organization can make in supporting workplace wellbeing. This enlightening discussion brings together experts from Jonathan's Voice charity and intellectual property professionals to explore why this training matters and how it creates lasting impact. The conversation reveals compelling evidence that proper mental health training, ideally a full day in person, equips managers with essential skill...
Dec 10, 2025•47 min
Send us Fan Mail Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon lights up our podcast with her remarkable journey from child math prodigy to founder of STEMETTES, an organization transforming how young women engage with science and technology. With disarming candor, she shares the pivotal moment at a 2012 tech conference where she realized she belonged to a "shrinking minority" as a woman in tech, a revelation that sparked what she calls her "road to Damascus moment" and ultimately led to STEMETTES' creation....
Dec 02, 2025•41 min
Send us Fan Mail Want a clear roadmap to the new EQE without the confusion or the myths? We sat down with the people who helped design it to unpack the why, the what, and the how, so you can plan your path with confidence. Lee and Gwilym unpack with Chris Mercer, Julia Gwilt and Debbie Slater the new EQE structure with the leaders who shaped it, explain why the change was needed, and map the staged path from Paper F through M3 and M4. They share guidance for trainees, tutors, and firms on traini...
Nov 17, 2025•47 min
Send us Fan Mail A decade of transforming the intellectual property landscape through inclusion, allyship, and community building, that's the remarkable journey of IP Inclusive we explore in this episode with founder Andrea Brewster. What makes IP Inclusive unique is its ground-up development, responding to the genuine needs of professionals rather than imposing initiatives from above. This approach has fostered the creation of thriving communities including Women in IP, IP Out for LGBTQ+ profes...
Sep 30, 2025•37 min
Send us Fan Mail On our last episode, we are stepping into the world of global intellectual property advocacy as we sit down with Margaret Polson and Lauren B. Emerson from the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) during the INTA conference in San Diego.
Jul 01, 2025•42 min
Send us Fan Mail Our next guest to join Lee and Gwilym in our San Diego Pubcast is Rob Jackson. Chair of CIPA's UPC Committee, takes us on a captivating journey from his unconventional entry into patent law to his passionate advocacy for UK patent attorneys' involvement in the Unified Patent Court system. With refreshing candor, he reveals how a suggestion from his mother, a legal secretary, and his childhood interest in what "Pat Pend" meant on Lego bricks eventually led him to a fulfilling car...
Jun 27, 2025•37 min•Season 14Ep. 10
Send us Fan Mail Lee and Gwilym were joined by Michael McLaughlin, Patent Attorney at McLaughlin IP Pte. Ltd., for this INTA Pubcast special. Ever wonder what happens when engineering expertise meets international IP law across multiple continents? Michael's twenty-year journey from electrical engineer to Singapore patent firm founder offers a fascinating glimpse into the possibilities of a global IP career.
Jun 23, 2025•31 min•Season 14Ep. 9
Send us Fan Mail To start off our San Diego Pubcast special, Lee and Gwilym sit down with Vicki Salmon. Vicki never planned on becoming a patent attorney. While preparing for a career as an accountant after studying natural sciences at Cambridge, a chance conversation with a neighbor who happened to be a High Court judge changed everything. "I think you should have a look at patents," he suggested, introducing her to the profession that would become her life's work....
Jun 20, 2025•34 min•Season 14Ep. 8
Send us Fan Mail This episode captures a fascinating conversation between UK and Canadian intellectual property experts exploring the unique challenges and innovations in their respective IP systems. The discussion dives deep into Canada's uncertain landscape for patentable subject matter, where inconsistent case law and examiner interpretations create significant headaches for businesses seeking protection. Unlike Europe's relatively settled approach, Canadian companies often face unpredictabil...
Jun 18, 2025•37 min•Season 14Ep. 7
Send us Fan Mail Step into the fascinating world of global intellectual property protection with Charles Randolph and Brian Beckham from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) . What begins as an annual update on WIPO's activities quickly transforms into a revealing conversation about the organization's far-reaching influence on the intellectual property landscape. Charles, who heads WIPO's industry and NGO relations, shares how the organization manages relationships with over 300 a...
Jun 16, 2025•22 min•Season 14Ep. 6
Send us Fan Mail Alex Gray and Asa Le Fustec from RightHub join us to reveal how they're disrupting the IP management industry with their fresh approach. After spending decades navigating the limitations of legacy systems at companies like CPA Global, they decided to build something entirely new – a comprehensive platform that leverages modern technology to eliminate the inefficiencies that have plagued IP professionals for years....
Jun 09, 2025•24 min•Season 14Ep. 5
Send us Fan Mail The upcoming INTA 2026 in London has us dreaming of pub quizzes, battle of the bands, and podcasting from double-decker buses, but before that excitement, we're diving into the world of intellectual property services with Andre Andrade and Emma Browning from RWS. These fascinating guests share remarkably similar stories of finding their way into IP through language skills, Andre as a Portuguese, Spanish, English, and French speaker who began as a trademark watcher, and Emma with...
Jun 09, 2025•36 min•Season 14Ep. 4
Send us Fan Mail What happens when podcast hosts become the guests? This delightful crossover episode brings together the worlds of "Two IPs in a Pod" and INTA's "Brand & New" as we welcome host Willard Knox for a behind-the-microphone conversation about the art and craft of intellectual property podcasting.
Jun 04, 2025•28 min•Season 14Ep. 3
Send us Fan Mail Lee and Gwilym are joined in the Pod Box by Heather Steinmeyer, who shares how her journey to becoming INTA’s Chief Policy Officer began unexpectedly in 1980s New York publishing. There, she gained valuable exposure to content creators and author rights—experience that would later prove foundational to her IP career. Her fascinating trajectory, which includes time in both corporate and private legal practice before serving as INTA President in 2010, has equipped her with unique ...
Jun 02, 2025•27 min•Season 14Ep. 2
Send us Fan Mail Lee and Gwilym have landed in San Diego for the INTA 2025 Annual Meeting! Elisabeth Stewart Bradley, INTA President and Vice President of Innovation Law: Trademarks, Copyrights, and Brand Protection at Bristol Myers Squibb, shares her journey from English literature major to IP lawyer, and how the organisation is evolving to support its members in a rapidly changing landscape. Her Presidential Task Force is focused on helping IP professionals adapt to technological disruption an...
May 27, 2025•29 min•Season 14Ep. 1
Send us Fan Mail From helping Scotch Whisky manufacturers by protecting the name in Brazil to working on the IP aspects of the UK's Government's reset in relations with the European Union, the work of our IP Attachés is varied and complex. Lee is joined by his deputy Neil for this deep dive into the important world of global IP diplomacy and trade. Attachés responsible for Southeast Asia, China, Latin America, North America, Middle East, North Africa and India all dropped by to join the conversa...
May 19, 2025•58 min
