Retromark: the conference

The fifth annual Retromark conference returns for another afternoon of in-person trade mark law and practice hosted by Darren Meale of Simmons & Simmons and the IPKat on Tuesday 7 May. This year, the keynote speech will be delivered by Allan James, Senior Hearing Officer at the UKIPO.

Starting at 2pm and finishing with drinks and canapes from 6:15pm at Simmons’ offices in Citypoint, Moorgate, the full line up is below:

14:00-14:30 – Registration

14:30-14:40 – Introduction and welcome (Darren Meale)

14:40-15:40 – Panel 1 – “When you do nothing or you can’t do anything – acquiescence and other modern challenges in trade mark enforcement” (We will explore the state of play on acquiescence following Combe v Wolff and Industrial Cleaning Equipment, while also looking at other issues in our enforcement system)

Moderator: Professor Eleonora Rosati, IPKat, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Stockholm University

Panellists:

Guy Tritton, Barrister, Hogarth Chambers

Alessandro Cerri, Senior IP Lawyer, Warner Bros. Discovery

Dev Gangjee, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Oxford

Stephen Reid, Head of Intellectual Property at Imperial Brands PLC

15:40-16:00 – The future of trade marks – revisited (Darren Meale)

16:00-16:30 – Coffee/tea break

16:30-17:15 – Keynote address: Allan James, Senior Hearing Officer, UKIPO

17:15-18:15 – Panel 2 – “A tale of a supreme saga: where does the Supreme Court judgment in Skykick leave us?” (Now that one of the most significant trade mark cases in modern times has drawn to a close with the Supreme Court’s final judgment [insert description based on outcome!], we will examine its conclusions and ponder what’s to become of the problems the saga highlighted in our registration system)

Moderator: Darren Meale

Panellists:

Natasza Shilling, Lead Counsel, Vodafone

George Sevier, Head of IP Enforcement, Brands and Licensing, Dyson

HHJ Melissa Clarke, Senior Circuit Judge, Designated Civil Judge for Oxford and Thames Valley at the Courts of England Wales

Daniel Alexander KC, Barrister, 8 New Square

18:15-19:30 – Drinks and canapes

Tickets are free but an optional charity donation ticket may be purchased. We are delighted to again be supporting Bowel Cancer UK. Please give generously!