Editorial Board

Partner, A&O Shearman

David Stone is a partner at A&O Shearman. Based in the firm's London office, he is a distinguished IP litigator specialising in trademarks, registered and unregistered designs, and copyright. Stone is a research fellow of the Oxford IP Research Centre, and teaches IP, including at the University of Oxford and the University of Alicante. The second edition of his book, ‘European Union Design Law: A Practitioners' Guide’, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2016. He also speaks widely about IP and diversity in the legal profession.

Jörg Thomaier became head of IP at Germany-based Bayer Group in 2010. He first joined the company's patent department as a trainee in 1997. He learned on the job and passed the EPO's European Qualifying Examination in 2001, becoming a qualified European patent attorney. He first worked in Bayer's crop science group and later served as a member of the animal health team before moving into the material science division. In 2004 he took on the role of chief patent counsel at Bayer Business Services, a subsidiary of the wider company. In 2006, he transferred to Bayer Healthcare to become its chief patent counsel. Finally, in 2010 he again changed roles to become the group's head of IP. He is now responsible for all IP matters within the group.

Partner, Finnegan

Erika Arner is managing partner of Finnegan in Washington DC. She is a nationally recognised leader in trial practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and related appeals to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Arner is also a champion for women in IP and co-founded the Washington DC chapter of the Women in IP Network. She serves in leadership roles on the women’s committees of the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the PTAB Bar Association.

Director of brand protection, LVMH

Leo Longauer is director of brand protection at LVMH in Paris. He is responsible for overseeing anti-counterfeiting operations and teams for 27 ‘maisons’ of the LVMH group. This includes online brand protection programmes as well as offline actions. His work also involves advocating for brand protection measures with law enforcement authorities, online platforms, and private and public stakeholders. Before joining LVMH, Longauer was vice president of IP at Swarovski, head of group IP at UBS, and head of the trademark examination section at the Swiss Federal Institute of IP. He is also a council member and vice-chair of Marques.

Director of IP, Pure Storage

Elizabeth Morris is legal director of IP and product at Pure Storage in California. She works closely with the chief technology officer to manage a rapidly growing patent portfolio through homegrown ideas and acquisitions. Morris has more than a decade of experience in-house, which has included integrating new acquisition portfolios, trademark portfolio management, patent litigation oversight, patent strategy development, and competitive analysis. Morris frequently speaks at industry conferences. She was previously in private practice for many years and practised patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation.

Yihong Ying is a director and corporate counsel for IP at Starbucks in China and the US. His responsibilities cover the China and Asia-Pacific markets. His group is responsible for managing and protecting the brand's IP portfolios. This includes work on contentious cases, some of which have resulted in favourable rulings from the country's highest judicial, criminal, and administrative authorities, and prosecution matters, requiring knowledge of the latest developments in trademark practice.

Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Nicola Dagg is a partner and leader of Kirkland & Ellis’s IP litigation practice in London. She has more than 25 years of experience at the forefront of litigation, particularly in relation to trade secrets and patents. Her practice includes pharmaceutical and biologics patent litigation; co-ordinating global enforcement and defence cases; hi-tech, digital and telecoms litigation; and standard-essential patent disputes. She regularly represents her clients at the England and Wales Court of Appeal and the UK Supreme Court.

Head of patents, British American Tobacco

Emily O'Neill is a well-rounded leader working at the intersection of IP and corporate strategy. She is currently serving as the head of patents (consumables and innovation futures) at BAT. Previously, she was the UK director of Deminor Litigation Funding, where she established and managed the UK operation including managing investment in global disputes and assessing the monetisation potential of IP portfolios. She is a board member at AIPPI UK.

Head of IP governance, Tata Consultancy Services

Taruna Gupta is head of IP governance, training, and assessment at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions and part of the TATA Group. Gupta, based in India, is responsible for establishing IP governance processes and systems for TCS. She also works closely with different TCS business units to guide them on IP creation and protection, risk, and asset management. She regularly interacts with IP stakeholders, including industry and professional bodies, and government agencies to promote collaboration and policy interventions. She previously served on the Technical Advisory Board for India’s Intellectual Property Office.

Managing attorney for IP, Hasbro

Niall Trainor is head of brand protection for the family brands team at Entertainment One (eOne), now part of the Hasbro group. The combined portfolio includes globally successful children’s brands including Peppa Pig, Transformers, PJ Masks, Play-Doh, and Monopoly. Trainor manages teams in London and Shanghai, dealing with copyright and trademark matters. His team received the European Trademark Team of the Year at the EMEA Managing IP Awards in 2022. Trainor was also listed as among Managing IP's 50 most influential people in IP in 2022. Prior to eOne, he practised international arbitration and litigation at a major London law firm.