We are delighted to announce that Sarah Kostiuk-Smith, Jacqueline Pang and Eliot Ward have been promoted to the Partnership.
We have also created a new Director role for our Patent and Trade Mark professionals.
This news comes at the same time we welcome Kate O’Rourke, former president of the UK Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys. Kate joins the firm on 1 April 2019 to head our European trade mark team. Read more about Kate here.
Partner promotions
Sarah Kostiuk-Smith joined Mewburn Ellis LLP in 2011, qualifying as both a Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney in 2015. As part of our chemistry practice group, Sarah works with both domestic and international clients chiefly in the pharmaceutical and nanotech sectors, drafting and prosecuting patent applications, managing large patent portfolios, and opposing and defending patents at the EPO.
Jacqueline Pang joined the firm in 2011 and qualified as a UK Registered Trade Mark Attorney in 2014. Since then, she has advised on large international filing strategies and domain name dispute resolution proceedings across a range of sectors including cleantech, consumer products, food & beverage, computer software, mechanical & structural engineering and retail.
Eliot Ward joined our life sciences practice group in 2011, qualifying as a European Patent Attorney in 2015 and a Chartered Patent Attorney in 2016. Eliot’s experience is primarily in the biotechnology sector, where he has drafted and prosecuted patent applications for local and international clients, and handles offensive and defensive opposition proceedings.
New Director position
In addition to these promotions, we are also delighted to announce the first promotions to our new Director position, which has been introduced as an attractive and highly-valued alternative to Partnership. Viewed as comparable to the Junior Partner role, the position of Director has been created to recognise the evolving needs and aspirations of our fee earners, who may want a different structure and approach to their working lives.
Elizabeth Dale and Rhiannon Wescott have been promoted to the position of Patent Director, and Sofia Arenal will take up the role of Trade Mark Director.
Sofia Arenal is a member of our Trade Mark and Dispute Resolution teams. She has extensive experience of oppositions, revocation and invalidity actions in the UK as well as EUTM oppositions, including complex families of cases. Sofia joined Mewburn Ellis LLP in 1996 and qualified as a UK Registered Trade Mark Attorney in 2003. She was a partner in the firm for many years before recently deciding to step back from a management role and spend more time focussing on client work.
Elizabeth Dale joined Mewburn in 2010, qualifying as a Chartered Patent Attorney in 2013 and a European Patent Attorney in 2014. She is a member of our chemistry practice group with experience in the industrial chemistry, nanotechnology and cleantech sectors.
Rhiannon Wescott is a member of our life sciences practice group, working predominantly in the biotechnology, protein engineering, antibody technology and diagnostics sectors. She joined the firm in 2011, qualifying as a Chartered Patent Attorney in 2014 and a European Patent Attorney in 2015.
Mewburn Ellis Partner Joanna Cripps commented:
“Mewburn’s strong growth has been testament to the commitment and ability of everyone in the firm. These promotions are therefore greatly deserved and reflect the market-leading abilities we possess throughout the business. I very much look forward to working together with the team as we embark on the next phase of our growth.
“As a forward-looking firm, we continually look for ways to modernise and our new Director role is the latest example of this. We know that the traditional Partner route may not be right for all our fee-earners, so this position was designed to provide an alternative structure to better fit their ambitions and work-life balance. Rather than expecting people to fit a certain mould, we strive to ensure that Mewburn provides the flexibility to ensure our professionals succeed in a way that suits them best."
