About

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau caught the media’s attention earlier this year with his confident response to a journalist’s question about quantum computing, a subject rarely discussed outside the world of theoretical physics. Canada-based D-Wave Systems has, since it was founded in 1999, been among the leading companies in the race to build a practical quantum computer, potentially allowing for much faster calculations than even the most advanced existing supercomputer. General counsel and director of intellectual property Tanya Rothe joined D-Wave in 2005 and has since been dealing with the challenges of protecting IP on a product that has almost no commercial precedent. Rothe’s time with the company has already been marked by impressive milestones. In 2011, D-Wave sold its first computer to Lockheed Martin for use in the testing of aircraft designs and satellite systems. In 2013 the company launched D-Wave Two and has since moved to work with Google and NASA-backed venture, The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab. Rothe trained as a chemical engineer before moving into law, something which she cites as a useful experience in conceptualising the extensive and hugely complex IP portfolio at D-Wave Systems. Prior to moving into the world of quantum computing she was intellectual property counsel at Ballard Power Systems where she was responsible for the IP portfolio across the company’s US materials and electric drive and power conversion divisions.