Data and intellectual property specialist Ana Kocmut-Saunders, Anti-Piracy and Licence Compliance manager Anna Krajewska, and Anti-Piracy and Business Intelligence specialist researcher and supervisor Charlotte Bardet are speaking out to mark the worldwide initiative on April 26.

This year’s event will see people coming together to celebrate the impact of Women in Innovation and Creativity globally. This year’s theme aims to highlight the remarkable and life-enhancing achievements of women working to drive progression across the IP and life science industries.
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To celebrate the day, all three team members at CJCH Solicitors and CJCH Consulting have explained why they chose a career in intellectual property, the most common IP misconceptions, and their thoughts on gender inclusivity in IP.

Ana Kocmut-Saunders

Data and IP specialist, Commercial Law team

Why did you decide to enter IP profession?

I grew up in a very creative environment. My grandad was a known artist who designed postage stamps and bank notes for former Yugoslavia, my parents were involved in music and antiques, and my sister is an architect.

Consequently, I learned from very young age to understand and appreciate creativity.

However, I always wanted to be a lawyer, and hence I have chosen an area of law that is closest to originality and innovation.

Before I joined CJCH Solicitors, I worked as an in-house lawyer for a leading Microsoft Gold partner that had developed its own IP to enhance the standard product offering. It was here I discovered how dynamic IP law is and how valuable IP can be for a business.

What is the one key piece of advice you’d always give to clients about IP?

IP is one of the most important financial assets of any business. It can potentially make up more than 40% of an average business value. It is an item on the balance sheet that will present itself in the short-to-midterm as a ROI, but going forward it can generate pure profit.

What is the one misconception clients always have about IP?

I would say that there are some misconceptions about IP. Organisations or individuals are not aware of all forms of IP that can support and protect their businesses, for example customer lists should be regarded as a trade secret.

Initially, it can be hard for them to understand the value of their IPR, especially the ones that are difficult to identify, such as know-how and already mentioned customer lists. They may also struggle to see how they can effectively exploit their IP.

At the outset, IP enables individuals and organisations to separate their products and/ or services from their competitors and to make it easier for them, if necessary, to prove their ownership.

Do you think IP profession is more inclusive in 2018?

IP has always been an all-encompassing area of law that requires experts from different professions to work together as a team. If you are in an IP profession, you need to walk a mile in your client’s shoes in order to understand your client’s business and meet your client’s needs.

Globalisation and rapid developments in technology in recent years have profoundly changed the way businesses operate. CJCH recognised this shift in the market early on and as a forward-looking law firm CJCH has responded to these new market conditions by embracing technology, and by employing people with different sets of skills from different professions. This bespoke approach has enabled CJCH to successfully tackle and prevent web-based copyright infringements.

Why do you think it is important to celebrate IP Day?

From a business perspective, it is important to raise awareness of all the different forms of IP, the best way for organisations and individuals to protect their IP and to exploit benefits of monopoly rights.

Nonetheless, by celebrating IP we celebrate and encourage originality, creativity and innovation as driving forces in our lives.

Anna Krajewska

Anti-Piracy and Licence Compliance manager

Why did you decide to enter the IP profession?

I worked for 10 years at the Polish Railways specialising in domestic and international transportation law, and joining CJCH in 2017 was a new challenging chapter in my career.

Having no bespoke academic background in Intellectual Property, I was offered a unique opportunity to gain my experience by “doing”.

CJCH with its extensive offer of IP related services, including among others IP management, IP commercialisation and IP rights protection turned out to be indeed, a perfect place to gain experience in this area of expertise.

Being part of the Anti-Piracy and Compliance Department has allowed me to observe IP “in action” first hand.

What IP services does CJCH offer?

At Anti-Piracy and Compliance we identify potential IP infringements through our thorough research and then follow up with a mediation process of license compliance.

In the case of innovative software development, IP is the most precious asset and our task is to help our clients to recover their loss of revenue due to piracy.

What is the one key piece of advice you’d always give to clients about IP?

I agree with the opinion that IP is not so much about law as it is about business. It exists to serve and protect client’s genuine business assets. This is one of the reasons why seeking legal advice could be of crucial importance regardless of the size of the company.

What is the one misconception clients always have about IP?

Quite often a client might be confused about what trade mark, copyright or patents mean. Helping the client to understand the differences between the definitions, and how they are used, will substantially help decide which form of IP might be best for their business.

From the commercial point of view, IP rights allow to differentiate client’s business from their competition and might be a very useful tool to attract investors as well.

Why do you think it is important to celebrate IP Day?

Despite the growing awareness of IP within societies, there is still room for improvement.

For instance, according to 2017 EUIPO report “European Citizens and Intellectual Property. Perception, awareness and behavior” 97% of respondents believe it is important that inventors, creators and performing artists can protect their rights and be paid for their work.

However, 10 % of respondents admitted accessing content from illegal online sources intentionally, and especially among the group aged 15-24 the number was significantly higher: 27% !

I believe celebrating IP Day is a great opportunity to highlight the value of IP and to help to raise awareness of piracy. Building respect for IP from the youngest age should be one of the main goals of public and private sector as well as civil society.

Charlotte Bardet

Supervisor, Anti-Piracy research and Business Intelligence team

Why did you decide to enter the IP profession?

Although I have always found this area particularly interesting, with the ever increasing dependency on data and technology in business, I had never really thought about or intended on entering the IP profession.

When selecting my optional modules for the Legal Practice Course (LPC), and over much deliberation, I ended up opting for Mergers and Acquisitions over IP.

However, on completing the LPC, a position as Researcher on the Anti-Piracy and Compliance team at CJCH opened up and I grabbed the opportunity to work at such a vibrant and forward-thinking firm.

I remember thinking how ahead of the game CJCH seemed to be compared to other law firms with regard to its approach to IP. The truth is that I didn’t even know the half of it at the time. The more I work in the IP profession, the more I realise how much there is to learn, but also how much there is to advise clients on.

What is the one key piece of advice you’d always give to clients about IP?

I think my one piece of advice would be to always be cautious with your intellectual property – protect it as early on as possible. In doing so, the key is to be proactive as well as reactive, and to anticipate any obstacles as far as possible.

What is the one misconception clients always have about IP?

The main misconception I’ve come across is clients thinking that IP can be protected at all costs. Particularly with the GDPR coming in, companies need to be aware of the repercussions this can have in trying to enforce its IP rights against individuals. This is why it is so important to protect intellectual property from the outset and handling any breach with care.

Do you think the IP profession is more inclusive in 2018?

As a newcomer to the field, I don’t know whether I can say IP is more inclusive in 2018. However, my experience so far has included working with very intelligent and strong women across all levels of management, including our Trainee Solicitor, Ana, and our Head of the Compliance and Enforcement team, Ania.

CJCH as a whole encourages a very inclusive environment, with Jacqui Seal as Senior Partner and Jodi Winter as Head of Department for Family and Children Law, just to name a few.

What IP services does CJCH offer?

CJCH Consulting includes our Anti-Piracy and Compliance department, which carries out research and compliance work for several clients, including Dassault Systèmes and Verosoft.

This work entails building cases against companies and other legal entities who breach our clients’ copyrighted IP, thus enforcing copyright laws across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Our team includes experts from various fields, and speaking over 20 languages across the department, all apply their diverse skills in order to combat IP crime for our clients.

Why do you think it is important to celebrate IP Day?

It’s important to celebrate IP Day to raise awareness. I think in a lot of people’s minds IP crime is still thought of as a tangible thing, such as pirated DVDs and fake Pravda handbags.

Although this is still a problem confronted by law enforcement around the world, increasingly, the majority of intellectual property, and breaches thereof, are taking place in the world of the intangibles.

This makes recognising what IP is, tracing where it goes and enforcing any IP rights more and more difficult.

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CJCH Consulting is a progressive and innovative company with Head offices the capital of Wales, Cardiff. An evolution from, and partner with, CJCH Solicitors, CJCH Consulting came to be in July 2017 after many successful years combating intellectual property (IP) crime and more recently being awarded a government grant from the Welsh Assembly to expand the digital IP protection and enforcement work already being delivered. Throughout 2017, CJCH Consulting closed major deals to represent major software companies, and on behalf of these clients brought legal cases against infringers on their intellectual property and commercial software.

CJCH Consulting has been in the headlines of Welsh and UK newspapers numerous times, perhaps most notably after recovering £20,000,000 for their clients through our Anti-Piracy and Compliance work. Given the efficient number of team members assigned to each case, the relative revenue generated is quite an achievement. Stephen Clarke is the CEO of the company, and one of those responsible for the firm’s exponential growth in the past year. I spoke to him about where the company began, where the company was heading, and how the company continued to stay ahead of the curve.

I first asked Stephen about the decisions behind making CJCH Consulting separate to CJCH Solicitors. The answer is relatively simple: Identity.

CJCH Consulting was conducting business as global company with international clients, whereas CJCH Solicitors was dedicated to being a local South Wales Law Firm with a commitment to their local clientele. The company did not want to put off loyal customers on the legal side of the business by losing their personable identity and becoming less approachable, but equally wanted to be seen as being able to compete in a global market. According to Stephen Clarke, CJCH Consulting is a physical representation of “the breadth of work we are doing and the services we have developed and can offer moving forward”; a service that very few companies can provide.

Stephen envisioned and nurtured the consultancy service and the Anti-Piracy and Compliance speciality which is one of the main driving forces behind the recent company’s growth. When asked about the future of the company and where it was headed, he stated that the company was looking to expand its client base by at least 50% in the next year. In addition, after consolidating the growth and success of past year, CJCH Consulting has hired a specialist contractor as a subject matter expert to “actively engage new clients and help pair their needs with bespoke solutions”. Historically, the company has always been approached by potential clients, and its reputation spread by word of mouth. The firm wants to continue to leverage on that positive reputation to continue to grow, evolve and dynamically adapt to the ever-changing needs of the market in the cyber and intellectual property industry.

Stephen was quoted as saying that “moving forwards, all businesses, not just in our field of work, are becoming more dependent on technology. In the industry we work in, technology is bound to be of assistance in the future and we see that it needs to be integrated with our personnel rather than replacing them.” The opportunity for the firm, then, is continuing to keep up with the times for the good of our clients, present and future, and the greater community without losing the service and personnel that make CJCH Consulting a valuable business partner.

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The conference focused on international intellectual property crime and was not only attended by law enforcement agencies, but also interested organisations seeking information and collaboration with global thought leaders on the monitoring and safeguarding of their intellectual property rights. Companies such as HP, Dolby, Pfizer and Levi Strauss were in attendance to discuss the challenges and threats to their industries due to counterfeiters and IP thieves.

The conference was a great success, with our representatives having this to say:

Stephen Rees: “This was a great opportunity to meet with the market leaders in their field, both legal and business, to discuss the issues and strategies for the coming years.  There was an excellent cross-flow of information and many valuable insights were gained.”

Tony Crampton: ‘This conference provides significant opportunities to the global effort in tackling IP Crime. The fact that key partners across Public and Commercial sectors attend, shows the importance of the contribution it makes. The speakers provided insight of intervention and enforcement strategies that are being deployed to protect IP rights around the world and examples where lessons were learnt or best practice identified. The ability to speak informally with Government representatives, Law Enforcement specialists and leading Commercial Brand’s investigators, enable CJCH to further develop its network and maintain confidence in our ability to deliver Client services which are effective and complement the wider initiatives being undertaken.”

For more information on the conference, and updates on future events, please see the event website here http://iipcic.org/conference.php

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