Dr. Michael Kock
European Patent Attorney, dr. kock consulting, Basel (Switzerland)
Michael is founder of his own IP and strategy consulting firm. From 2007 to October 2017 Michael was Head Intellectual Property for Syngenta Crop Protection AG based in Basel, Switzerland. He studied chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology in Hamburg, Germany, and Nanjing, China, and graduated with a Diploma in chemistry and has a Ph.D. in molecular biology. Michael Kock is also a qualified Swiss and European Patent Attorney.
Michael Keller
Secretary General, International Seed Federation, Nyon (Switzerland)
Michael Keller is General Secretary of the International Seed Federation since 2014. Prior to taking up the position, he was with DuPont where he has acquired extensive experience in crop protection, food and feed issues and renewable resources. Michael started his career working for the French Senate and then had a leading role in the Mayors Association. He represented constituents' interests at the European level and regularly interacted with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank. Michael holds a bachelor degree in law from the University of Mannheim, a Post-graduate diploma in political science, a master in European law and has done a cycle of post-graduate European studies.
More information please click here.
Peter Button
Vice Secretary-General, International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), Geneva (Switzerland)
Mr. Peter Button was appointed Vice Secretary-General of UPOV on December 1, 2010, having previously held the role of Technical Director at UPOV since 2000. Mr. Button, a national of the United Kingdom, holds a B.Sc. Honors degree in Biological Sciences. From 1981 to 1987 he worked for Twyford Seeds Ltd., a plant breeding company in the United Kingdom, on the development of new cereal varieties. Between 1987and 1994 he was the General Manager of Twygen Ltd., a company which developed micropropagation systems for the commercial production of seed potatoes and soft fruit stocks and continued as General Manager, following the change of ownership, of GenTech Propagation Ltd. in1994. In 1996, Mr. Button joined the British Society of Plant Breeders as Technical Liaison Manager, where his responsibilities included the operation of officially licensed variety trials. In 1998, he became Technical Liaison Officer for the United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Plant Variety and Seeds Division), where he was responsible for the operation of the tests and trials associated with the United Kingdom Plant Breeders’ Rights and National List schemes and Seed Certification in England and Wales and was the United Kingdom representative in the UPOV Technical Committee.
Heli Pihlajamaa
Director Patent Law, European Patent Office, Munich (Germany), tbc
Heli Pihlajamaa, Director Patent Law, EPO Munich, studied Law at Helsinki University and at Max Planck Institute in Munich. Heli acts as legal member in opposition cases and advises EPO higher management on policy issues and legal amendments. She is responsible for supporting the EPO policy by developing, strengthening and promoting the EPC, including proposals for legal changes, compliance of operations with patent law-related norms and case law. Before joining the EPO she worked in both the private and public sectors. She has written books and articles on patent law in Finnish and is fluent in English, German, Swedish, Finnish and French.
Francesco Mattina
Vice President, Community Plant Variety Office, Office Communautaire des Variétés Végétales, Angers (France)
Mr Francesco MATTINA is Vice President and Head of the Legal Unit at the Community Plant Variety Office (Angers - France). He graduated in Law and obtained a Master degree in European Union Law and Intellectual Property Law from the European College of Parma and the Magister Lucentinus of the University of Alicante. After his degrees, he worked during several years as a specialized lawyer dealing with infringements of Intellectual Property Rights. He also served as lecturer of Intellectual Property Law in several Italian Universities. Nowadays, his field of practise focuses on plant variety rights.
Szonja Csörgõ
Director Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs, European Seed Association (ESA), Brussels (Belgium)
Szonja is Hungarian and holds a degree in law from ELTE Budapest University, an MA in French and European Law from Panthéon-Assas University (Paris) and an LL.M. in IP and Competition Law from the University of Liège (Belgium). Before joining ESA she worked at the Budapest office of the law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel and at the European Commission. In 2009 she became ESA’s Manager Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs. Within ESA she is primarily responsible for issues related to intellectual property protection and plant genetic resources and also handles all seed legislation related legal questions. She represents ESA towards relevant international organizations, European Institutions as well as the Community Plant Variety Office.
Dr. Petra Jorasch
Manager Plant Breeding & Innovation Advocacy, European Seed Association (ESA); Member of Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group, International Seed Federation (ISF)
Dr. Petra Jorasch holds a PhD in plant molecular biology from the University of Hamburg. She worked for the plant breeding association in Germany (BDP) in different positions dealing with IP, technology transfer as well as with regulatory issues concerning modern plant breeding methods. Petra joined the European Seed Association (ESA) in February 2017 as the spokesperson of the EU plant breeding sector on modern plant breeding methods and innovative technologies. Petra is also member of the ISF Working Group Plant Breeding Innovation.
Dominic Muyldermans
Senior Legal Consultant, CropLife International, Brussels (Belgium)
Dominic Muyldermans is an independent lawyer since August 2011 with a focus on regulatory issues and issues of intellectual property in the area of green biotechnology. In his capacity as independent lawyer he is working as Senior Legal Consultant IGO Affairs for CropLife International since then. He is responsible for following up on access and benefit sharing and intellectual property related to plant biotech.
Claudia Hallebach, LL.M.
Global Head of Legal and Intellectual Property, KWS SAAT AG, Einbeck (Germany)
Claudia Hallebach is Head of Global Legal and Intellectual Property at the KWS Group. Besides her overall responsibilities for KWS Legal and IP strategy, commercial and RD transactions as well as corporate matters, she represents KWS in several industry associations such as ISF; Euroseeds and BDP for IP and Legal policy matters. Claudia is a lawyer by training and successfully completed a postgraduate LLM in European and International Laws at the University of London. She started her professional career at the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture followed by a position as Managing Director of the Working Group Agriculture in the Leading German Business Association (BDI).
Dr. Sonja Woitsch
Head of Intellectual Property, Global Legal and Intellectual Property, KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA, Einbeck (Germany)
Dr. Sonja Woitsch is Head of Intellectual Property at KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA. She joined KWS in 2006 and has 16 years of experience in the plant breeding industry. Sonja has strong expertise in plant IP and policy matters, R&D and business strategy development, IP validation, portfolio management, M&A transactions, and due diligence processes. Since December 2020 she is a board member of the International Licensing Platform (ILP) Vegetable. She studied Biology at the University Konstanz, Germany and graduated with a Diploma in Biology and a PhD in plant physiology and biochemistry.
Nicolas Amelot
Global IP Lead - Vegetables and Flowers, Syngenta
Nicolas Amelot studied genetics and molecular biology at the Toulouse III University and obtained a Ph.D. in plant biosciences in 2010. He started to study Intellectual Property law the same year and holds a Master of Laws from the Toulouse I University. He started his IP career at Syngenta as a patent counsel for the Seeds & Biotechnology Division, working especially on seeds traits and enabling technologies such as RNA interference and genome editing. He took responsibilities of gradual importance within Syngenta over the last 10 years and is currently the Global IP Lead for both Vegetables and Flowers Divisions. In his position, Nicolas has extensive experience in all aspects of plant patent and PVP laws, all the way from drafting to litigation, as well as in advising the business in all collaboration, licensing and M&A deals.
Eli Gilsohn
Vice President Intellectual Property, Tropic Biosciences, Norwich (UK)
Dr. Gilsohn is an experienced Intellectual Property executive, specialising in leading global IP strategy of biotech and pharma companies at various stages. Prior to joining Tropic Biosciences Dr. Gilsohn was Principal Patent Counsel at Quark Pharmaceuticals, responsible for a patent portfolio of siRNA-based clinical-stage products. He also held positions in leading private practice firms both in the UK and Israel, directing IP portfolios of multinationals, SMEs and start-up companies. He holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and an MBA specializing in Bio-Medical Management.
Daniel J. Knauss
Attorney, Cooley LLP, Washington, D.C. (USA)
Dan has a PhD in microbiology and cancer biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has a JD, with distinction, from Stanford Law School. Before attending law school, Dan was director of intellectual property at Third Wave Technologies, where he managed a large international patent portfolio and licensing and litigation matters. Dan’s practice focuses on life sciences intellectual property litigation. He counsels clients regarding disputes in a wide variety of technology areas, including agricultural technology. He publishes regularly on plant-related patents.
Malathi Lakshmikumaran
Ph.D., FNASc, Director & Head Life Science Group at the IP Division, New Delhi (India)
Malathi has more than 30 years of experience in the field of biochemistry and Molecular Biology with an expertise in plant genomics, DNA fingerprinting and genetic transformation. She has more than 100 publications to her credit in various International and Indian journals. Prior to joining the firm, she served as the Head, Centre for Bioresource & Biotechnology Division in The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) for a period of 17 years. At present, she serves as a Director and heads the life science group at the IP division of the firm. She is a registered patent agent and has been actively engaged in preparing, filing and prosecuting of patent applications, both in India and abroad. She mainly works on pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological patent applications. She advises clients on plant variety protection and registration. She is actively involved in the area of Biodiversity and Traditional knowledge.
Elliot Papageorgiou
Attorney-at-law (NY), Solicitor ( England & Wales), Barrister & Solicitor (Victoria, Australia), Head of IP Strategy - Greater China, Gowling WLG, Shanghai (China)
Elliot has been advising Global companies on IP
strategies for almost 26 years, the last 16 of these
from Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, where he
currently lives and works. He specialises in China
patent and trade secret litigation. He represents
Europe's leading companies in enforcing their
patents and utility models and over the last 7 years
or so has developed a reputation for defending them
against patent infringement lawsuits brought by
Chinese competitors.
More information please click here.
Gustavo de Freitas Morais
Attorney, Dannemann Siemsen Advogados, São Paulo (Brazil)
A partner of Dannemann Siemens Advogados, Gustav is an attorney at law licensed in Brazil and has a degree in Electronic Engineering. His practice areas include amongst other litigation, patents and plant varieties. He is also IP law professor at the São Paulo Law School.
08. - 09.12.2022
08. - 09.12.2022
8 - 9 December 2022 I 1st day: 09:00...
8 - 9 December 2022 I 1st day: 09:00 - 18:45 I 2nd day: 09:00 - 16:00
Event - 2.180,- € plus tax
The fee includes conference documentation as well as midsession refreshments and lunch. Conference Dinner: € 40.00 (+ 21% VAT)
Invoice and confirmation will be forwarded to you.
OPTIONS
Conference Dinner
+40,00 €
Event - 2.180,- € plus tax
The fee includes conference documentation as well as midsession refreshments and lunch. Conference Dinner: € 40.00 (+ 21% VAT)
Invoice and confirmation will be forwarded to you.
OPTIONS
Conference Dinner
+40,00 €
Jean-Claude Alexandre Ho, LL.M.
Lawyer, Conference Manager
+49 6221 500-675
jc.alexandreho@forum-institut.de
The digital edition of this conference offers you once again the most recent developments in IP for the seed industry and the breeders.
We are proud to announce FORUM Institut's 10th Conference on Intellectual Property Protection for Plant Innovation 2022 to be held 8 and 9 December 2022 in the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
The conference is the biennial venue for professionals from around the world to discuss the most important IP developments
in the plant innovation sector. A panel of world-class international experts, key decision makers and leading players will focus on the most topical issues affecting today’s IP protection for plant innovations and answer your questions.
The meeting will bring together representatives from all fields of practice and offers you the unique opportunity to meet practitioners. Mark your calendar to join us for the 10th Conference on Intellectual Property Protection for Plant Innovation in Amsterdam!
Do you work in the seed industry and deal with intellectual property? Or do you have clients in this field and you counsel them on IP?
Then this is the right conference for you. Breeders, representatives of plant variety, IP, patent and trademark offices as well as representatives of plant breeders‘ associations will also benefit from this conference.
09:00 - 09:10
09:10 - 09:30
Michael Keller (ISF, tbc)
09:30 - 10:00
Michael Kock
10:00 - 10:45
Heli Pihlajamaa (EPO)
10:45 - 11:00
11:00 - 11:30
Szonja Csörgö (ESA)
11:30 - 12:00
Szonja Woetsch (KWS), Nicolas Amelot (Syngenta)
12:00 - 12:30
Moderator: Michael Kock; panelists: Heli Pihlajamaa (EPO), Szonja Csörgö (ESA), Sonja Woitsch (KWS), Nicolas Amelot (Syngenta)
12:30 - 13:30
13:30 - 14:15
Dan Knauss (Cooley)
14:15 - 14:45
Jean Donnenwirth (Corteva, tbc)
14:45 - 15:00
15:00 - 15:30
Claudia Hallebach (KWS)
15:30 - 16:15
Niels Louwaars (Plantum, tbc)
16:15 - 16:45
N.N. (ISF)
16:45 - 17:15
N.N. (European Commission)
17:15 - 17:45
Moderator: Michael Kock; panelists: Dan Knauss (Cooley), Jean Donnenwirth (Corteva, tbc), Claudia Hallebach (KWS), Niels Louwaars (Plantum, tbc)
17:45 - 18:15
Thomas Greiber (German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation)
18:15 - 18:45
Dominic Muyldermans (CropLife International/EuropaBio)
18:45 - 19:00
19:00 - 19:30
19:30 - 21:00
09:00 - 09:10
Michael Kock
09:10 - 09:50
Peter Button (UPOV)
09:50 - 10:30
Francesco Mattina, CPVO
10:30 - 10:45
10:45 - 11:15
N.N. (ISF)
11:15 - 11:45
Eli Gilsohn (Tropic Bioscience)
11:45 - 12:15
N.N.
12:15 - 12:45
Moderator: Michael Kock, panelists: Peter Button (UPOV), Francesco Mattina (CPVO), Eli Gilsohn (Tropic Bioscience)
12:45 - 13:45
13:45 - 14:15
Elliot Papageorgiou (Gowling)
14:15 - 14:45
Malathi Lakshmikumaran (Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan)
14:45 - 15:00
15:00 - 15:30
Gustavo de Freitas Morais (Dannemann Siemsen)
15:30 - 16:00
Moderator: Michael Kock; panelists: Elliot Papageorgiou (Gowling), Malathi Lakshmikumaran (Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan), Gustavo de Freitas Morais (Dannemann Siemsen)
16:00
Your overall impression
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DetailsWhat our participants say:
'Good update on IP issues related to plants.'
Patent Attorney
'Interesting for breeders.'
Market Access and Compliance Manager
'Quality of speakers and peers.'
Attorney-at-law
'Comprehensive and provides up to date info.'
Patent Attorney
'Generally broadened my understanding and specifically raised some issues in my own company.'
CEO
'Professional level of speakers, good organisation.'
General Manager