The IP Inclusive Management team

These are the current members of IP Inclusive Management (IPIM). You can contact any of us via IP Inclusive’s Lead Executive Officer Andrea Brewster.

We have also published a register of IPIM members’ relevant interests.

Click here to return to the main IP Inclusive Management page.

Michael is a barrister at 11 South Square, Gray’s Inn where he specialises in IP, IT, data protection and technical commercial litigation. Before joining the Bar in 1980 he read physics at Imperial College with a final year dissertation in materials science and gained industrial experience at GEC Rotameter in Croydon.

Between 1991 and 1996 Michael was junior counsel to the Treasury in patent matters. He became a QC in 1996. He has been a qualified mediator since 2003 conducting mediations in IP and technical commercial disputes. His mediation experience includes complex international disputes between multiple parties from around the world. He has been a member of the Nominet DRS Expert Panel since 2008. He is currently working on a number of class action data protection cases and developing his mediation practice through a dedicated website.

Michael’s personal and professional experiences have led him to appreciate that one can never do enough to champion diversity and inclusion. He helped to create his chambers’ D&I policy and put it into practice. During his time as head of chambers he ensured that chambers’ recruitment and management practices were modernised and unbiassed. When asked by Andrea Brewster at the inception of IP Inclusive to contribute, he was keen to help and has been on the management team throughout.

Michael was a founding member of IPIM. 

Gordon is of counsel at Trevisan & Cuonzo. He is a former partner of Gowling WLG, where he was Head of IP for 25 years between 1995 and 2020. He was a member of the International IP Leadership Team, charged with developing strategy across the firm’s global offices. He specialises in IP enforcement work, particularly engineering/tech patents.

Gordon graduated in law from UCL in 1981 and was at Gowling WLG (and its predecessor firm, Wragge & co) between 1982 and his retirement in 2024 – a genuine “lifer”. He was in charge of the firm’s trainee recruitment programme for six years, and created a diverse global team across the firm’s international offices.

Gordon also practises as a mediator, accredited by CEDR and WIPO, and is a member of the WIPO panel of arbitrators for domain name disputes. He is a guest lecturer in patent law at Queen Mary College, and speaks at the summer programme of the University of San Francisco at their European Summer School.

Throughout his career as a leader in the IP sector, Gordon has championed diversity and has implemented fair and transparent practices in recruitment and career progress. During his time in charge of trainee recruitment at Gowling WLG he opened relations with local schools to encourage students from all walks of life to take an early look at the possibilities of a career in law and IP in particular. When invited to consider joining IPIM, he was delighted to accept and looks forward to making a contribution in this important area in the later stages of his career.

Gordon joined IPIM in 2021.

Clair writes:

I am a Chartered UK Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney who has worked for over 20 years both in private practice and in-house.

I metaphorically “hung up my lab coat” after undertaking post-doctoral research at Sheffield University. Whilst working on a project relating to the use of actives from green tea in preventing arthritis, I first became aware of the role of a patent attorney and not long after started a trainee position in York. I moved to Reckitt in 2020, and work as a Senior Patent Attorney.

I’m involved in a number of diversity initiatives in the IP sector, and currently sit on the CIPA D&I committee. I’m also an active member of the General Counsel D&I Initiative.

I’m passionate about social mobility, having attended a comprehensive school in the Midlands, spent a large proportion of my career in the Yorkshire/Humber regions and now living in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Diversity of thought drives innovation.

I’m delighted to have been invited to join the IP Inclusive Management team.

Clair joined IPIM in 2023.

Andrea writes:

I’m a chartered patent attorney and European patent attorney, and a former President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA). From 2010 to 2020 I served on the Institute’s governing Council and have also contributed to several of its committees, including the Business Practice, Education, Paralegals and Textbook & Publications Committees.

Before my retirement in 2015 I was a partner in a small UK patent and trade mark practice, Greaves Brewster LLP, of which I’d been a co-founder.

I established IP Inclusive in 2015 to promote equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing throughout the UK’s IP professions. With the help of huge numbers of enthusiastic volunteers, I’ve developed the initiative into a well-connected and influential player in the IP sector. I became its first Lead Executive Officer in 2019, a role I continue to hold alongside my membership of its governing body IPIM. I frequently speak to and advise IP professionals on diversity-, inclusion- and wellbeing-related issues, and have been heartened by people’s enthusiasm for this important cause.

Andrea was a founding member of IPIM.

Ese is a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney and CITMA Council member with over 20 years’ experience in the global IP field. She has spent time working in Asia, in particular China and Hong Kong, for extended periods. She has worked in private practice and in-house departments and joined BAT in 2019 as Trade Mark and Marketing Counsel focusing on advising marketing teams on trade mark issues as well as handling the protection, exploitation and enforcement of a number of its global brands.

Ese regularly volunteers at the CITMA and UK IPO free business advice clinics, providing advice on brand protection and related topics. She has been an active supporter of IP Inclusive for a number of years and is inspired by an organisation that continues to elevate the diversity and inclusion conversation. She is involved in the Careers in Ideas initiative and is a strong advocate of mentoring as it is a great opportunity to inspire the next generation of would-be IP recruits and break down the barriers in the IP sphere for people from under-represented groups.

Ese joined IPIM in 2023.

Robert writes:

I got involved in workplace inclusion and diversity (I&D) relatively recently, taking on the role of Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer (CIDO) at Mewburn Ellis LLP toward the end of 2021. I&D matters now occupy most of the time I spend at work.

Before taking on the CIDO role, my professional life consisted of the typical fare of a partner in an IP legal services firm, with much of my time spent immersed in patent work for my clients in the oncology field or travelling to South Korea to meet fellow attorneys.

The pivot to focus on I&D was, therefore, a big change in my professional life which has been both challenging and thought-provoking. That said, from a personal perspective the change in focus felt like the natural next step in my development, I&D topics having been major themes for me throughout my home life. I have long been involved with (and part of!) diverse communities, so having the opportunity to apply that experience at work to help others has been invigorating.

With that in mind, I’m excited to become a part of IPIM and support the development of inclusion and diversity in the UK IP sector.

Robert joined IPIM in 2023.

Alicia is a solicitor and chartered trade mark attorney who studied Biology at The Queen’s College Oxford before starting her legal career and finding her love of IP at Hogan Lovells. Alicia moved in-house to GSK in 2002 working in a wide variety of IP and risk management roles prior to her most recent role leading the Consumer Healthcare Brand Protection team of lawyers and paralegals based in the UK, US and China. Alicia left GSK in August 2021 and now works as Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property at Associated British Foods plc. Meanwhile she is also planning to finish her training to be accredited as an Associate Accredited Coach by the International Coaching Federation.

Alicia is passionate about developing people to be the best version of themselves and ensuring that teams and organisations including the IP profession are diverse and represent the communities where they are based and the people that they serve. She has been involved in many diversity initiatives within and outside of work and is a volunteer coach/mentor for students and individuals looking to progress in their careers.

Alicia has spent the last six years serving as a Board Member and Non-Executive Director of IPReg, the Regulator for the UK patent and trade mark professions, helping to shape the strategy and direction of that organisation, and is excited to be joining IP Inclusive and using this experience to help move the organisation forward on the next phase of its journey.

Alicia joined IPIM in 2021.

Julie is a patent and trade mark attorney who has worked for almost 40 years, in private practice, a law firm and in-house. Her last job was as IP Director for a UK-owned multinational engineering group, managing a global IP team including patent managers and focussing on the IP strategy, policies and procedures for the group. She retired at the end of 2020.

Julie was a member of the Council of IP Federation, and now acts as Policy Advisor to the Council. She has represented the IP Federation as one of the founding members of IP Inclusive and as a member of IPIM. She continues to represent the views of in-house IP professionals.

Julie has been actively involved in IP Inclusive since it launched. She has a particular interest in social mobility and representing those with caring responsibilities.

Julie joined IPIM in 2018.

Lesley is a retired solicitor and business leader who was Chief Executive of international IP practice, Haseltine Lake LLP (now Haseltine Lake Kempner), from 2001 to 2018. During that time, she spearheaded a number of recruitment and career progression initiatives to diversify access and improve career advancement opportunities across all roles. She also served as a Director of the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA) and a member of the Business Practice Committee of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA).

In the early years of IP Inclusive, Lesley led a working group of volunteers from different parts of the IP community to set up the IP Inclusive Charter and the charter-signature system. She was also involved in the establishment of its South West and Scottish regional networks.

In 2020, Lesley began an MA in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Gloucestershire, enabling her to study representations of inclusivity and of “otherness” in contemporary literature and to experience inclusivity initiatives and approaches in the higher education sector.

Lesley joined IPIM in 2023.

James is a barrister at 8 New Square, Lincoln’s Inn, specialising in intellectual property including patents, confidential information, design rights, copyright, database rights, trade marks, passing off and complex IT disputes. He has been involved in the work of IP Inclusive since 2019.

At St John’s College Cambridge, he was a National Engineering Scholar and awarded 1st Class Honours in Electrical and Information Sciences and Engineering. He was a founder of the college Fund for South African Education and active in the early work of the Cambridge University Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applications (GEEMA). At GEC Marconi Research Centre, he became a chartered engineer and was leader of the Optical Communications Networks Team. Based in London, he acted as a mentor for would-be engineers and lawyers as part of the City & Islington College “Mentor Programme” helping black sixth-form students with the self-confidence, motivation and skills to go on to higher education and a wide range of careers.

Called to the Bar in 1995, James was instrumental in founding the Inns of Court School of Law Students’ Association and has taught junior barristers advocacy as part of the Gray’s Inn Advocacy Faculty since 2004. He became a QC in 2022. His private passions include playing jazz flute, fringe theatre and new music. He has been a board member of Clod Ensemble theatre and dance company since 2009 and, since 2018, chair of the trustees of the Alfred Fagon Award, the UK’s leading award for black playwrights of Caribbean and African descent.

James joined IPIM in 2020.