Beck Greener LLP

Avi Freeman

Experienced in working with market leading companies from fields as diverse as optics, communications, computer hardware and software, and electronic and mechanical engineering, Avi also takes great satisfaction in assisting start-ups and young companies, especially when the IP infrastructure he has helped to create supports their growth. He also enjoys supporting international hi-tech companies, either directly or through local patent attorneys. Widely admired for his experience in the engineering, physics and electronics sectors, Avi has considerable expertise in advising on and obtaining patent protection for computer hardware and software. Valued by clients for his strong strategic sense, technical knowledge and real-world business skills, he prides himself on taking time to understand their products and deliver pragmatic advice, on time and to budget. Avi is skilled at drafting, filing and prosecuting cases at the European Patent Office and at the UK Intellectual Property Office, acting for multinational corporations and start-ups alike. He has comprehensive experience of post-grant procedures at the EPO, achieving a high success rate in oppositions and appeals. Avi also has a large caseload before international patent offices, particularly the USPTO, where he prosecutes applications on behalf of direct clients with the assistance of local counsel. In addition to his patent workload, Avi also advises on the protection of both registered and unregistered designs. His problem solving skills mean that Avi is often brought in by clients when value added advice is at a premium, or asked to take over troublesome cases from other firms. Active in thought leadership, Avi writes and publishes in the field of computer-implemented inventions, an area in which he is internationally recognised. He travels widely to the US, Asia and the Middle East, speaking and presenting on matters of European law ranging from general developments, like the European unitary patent, to the more specific, such as the European and UK approach to the protection of computer-implemented inventions. Avi, having been invited, recently chaired a round table on the subject of AI at the Asian Patent Attorneys Association Council Meeting.

Catherine Jewell

“Enthusiastic and committed” patent and trade mark expert Catherine Jewell is admired by clients for a mastery of the detail that allows her to present complex advice in a user-friendly way. Whether in the patent or trade mark sphere, Catherine impresses with her legal and technical skills and her professionalism. She has drafted and prosecuted patent applications for clients with diverse needs and budgets, representing large multinationals in prosecution, opposition and appeals at the European Patent Office and UKIPO, while also helping smaller clients to develop their products from concept to market, including drafting patent applications and advising on trade mark registrations. Catherine’s patent practice is focused on the chemicals field. During her time as a patent attorney she has worked with a wide variety of technologies, including energy applications such as photovoltaic systems, general organic chemistry, materials chemistry, ceramics and polymers, drug delivery systems such as self-assembling lipid-based formulations, and pharmaceutical chemistry. Catherine has handled inventions ranging from veneered floor tiles to epoxidation processes, siloxanyl polymers, zeolites and graphene coatings. Also experienced in trade marks, Catherine advises on strategies for handling, extending and maintaining international portfolios of marks. She conducts and advises on searches and defends her clients’ brands through opposition proceedings and the negotiation of settlement agreements. Catherine is qualified to practise as a trade mark attorney under the laws of both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, allowing her to continue to practise before the EUIPO in relation to European Union Trade Marks and Designs post-Brexit. Catherine is part of the team responsible for Beck Greener’s award-winning CSR function. This has seen her play a key role in overseeing the firm’s long-term transformation from a fully office-based working environment to a hybrid model with home-working. She also plays a leading role in implementing the STEM: Branching Out project, intended to help raise the profile of the legal profession among disadvantaged communities, and to broaden the appeal of careers in IP. Fully committed to thought leadership, Catherine is a regular lecturer at the UCL School of Pharmacy as part of their Masters degree in Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurship, and is the joint author of “3D Printing Techniques in the Pharmaceutical Sciences – Intellectual Property Issues” in the Springer overview publication “3D Printing of Pharmaceuticals” (2018).