Name: Klaus Grabinski
Position: President, the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court
Dr Klaus Grabinski is President of the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court since November 2022. Before, as Justice in the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), he was allocated to the 10th Civil Division (X. Zivilsenat) which has, inter alia, jurisdiction in patent dispute matters from 2009 to 2020 and from June 2020 as Deputy Presiding Justice of the Division. Prior to joining the Federal Court of Justice, he was, inter alia, Judge at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and Presiding Judge of a Patent Litigation Division at the Düsseldorf Regional Court.
He studied law at the Universities of Trier, Geneva, and Cologne. He worked as an assistant at the University of Trier where he was awarded his Doctor of Law in 1991.
He was an external legally qualified member of the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal.
Name: Anne Marie Verschuur
Position: Partner, DE BRAUW BLACKSTONE WESTBROEK
Anne Marie Verschuur has a broad IP practice with a particular focus on technology and patents. A member of De Brauw's UPC team, she is a registered UPC representative and regularly represents clients in technology-driven matters, ranging from patent infringement/invalidity actions (including FRAND), trade secret disputes and other tech/IP-related conflicts, to transactional work. She also assists her clients in design, trademark and copyright matters as well as on green claims.
Anne Marie is an active member of several IP associations, including the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI – former member of the international board as Reporter General; current president of the Dutch board; Member of Honour); the European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW); the International Trademark Association (INTA – member of its Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee); and the Dutch Association of Intellectual Property Litigators (VIEPA). She has also co-authored a leading Dutch IP handbook and is a member of the editorial board of a national IP journal.
Dr. Christof Augenstein has been active as a litigator for almost 20 years and became a Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property in 2007. He enforces intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, and designs in litigation. He is a regular speaker on national and international forums. His speaking engagements for enforcing standards-essential include the German Association of Intellectual Property Experts (VPP), IAM, or IP Watchdog.
Dr. Augenstein is the author and editor of various legal commentaries about procedural aspects of the enforcement of intellectual property rights and the newly established Unified Patent Court (UPC). He is the co-publisher of an international commentary with other European litigators, the author of the Beck-Online Commentary on the UPC Agreement, and the co-author of an international commentary project with appointed UPC judges.
He regularly holds seminars for the UPC at the German Association of Intellectual Property Experts (VPP) and at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg/France, where he is also involved in training judges.
He is the Chair of the Standing Committee for Unitary Patents/Unified Patent Court and a member of the Standing Committee on Enforcement at the AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property).
Name: Jennifer Choe-Groves
Position: Federal Judge, U.S. Court of International Trade
JUDGE JENNIFER CHOE-GROVES is a federal judge on the United States Court of International Trade in New York. She has practiced law for 30 years. Prior to her appointment to the Court, Judge Choe-Groves was in private practice specializing in intellectual property litigation and international trade policy. She also worked in the White House on intellectual property matters. Judge Choe-Groves serves on the Committee on International Judicial Relations, Judicial Conference of the United States, pursuant to an appointment by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Choe-Groves handles litigation cases involving international trade, intellectual property, and a variety of other civil matters.
Education: Princeton University, A.B.; Rutgers School of Law-Newark, J.D.; Columbia Law School, LL.M.; Juilliard School, Piano and Composition, Pre-College.
Name: Fadi N. Kiblawi
Position: Partner, Sughrue Mion, PLLC
Graduate of the University of Michigan and George Washington University Law School
2006 – 2009 Associate Attorney, Stein, McEwen & Bui, LLP (Washington DC)
2010 – 2015 Associate Attorney, Sughrue Mion, PLLC (Washington DC)
2016 – 2024 Partner, Sughrue Mion, PLLC (Washington DC)
2019 to Present Foreign Law Consultant, Sughrue Mion (Tokyo)
Name: David Albagli
Position: Local Partner, White & Case LLP
Graduate of Princeton University (Chemical Engineering, B.S.E.); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Chemistry, Ph.D.); Post-Doctoral Fellow, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Yokohama; University of California Hastings Law School (J.D.)
1995 – 2000 Chief Technology Officer, NAXCOR, Inc.
2000 – 2004 Chief Technology Officer, ACLARA, Inc.
2006 Judicial Extern to the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, Northern District of California
2008 – 2016 Finnegan, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, Palo Alto and Tokyo Offices
2016 to Present Local Partner, White & Case LLP, Tokyo Office
Name: James Mellor
Position: Justice, Chancery Division and the Patents Court, the High Court of England & Wales
Mr Justice Mellor, Judge of the High Court, Chancery Division and the Patents Court
Mr Justice Mellor became a Judge in the High Court of England & Wales, assigned to the Chancery Division, in February 2021, after a long career as an IP barrister at the leading IP set at 8, New Square in Lincoln’s Inn, where latterly he was Head of Chambers.
James was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1986, having emerged from two periods at King’s College, Cambridge studying Engineering and then Law (1st). As an engineer he worked for varying periods in the UK, France, Germany, Iraq, Somalia and the Congo. Combining his engineering background with law led him into the field of intellectual property law practising as a barrister for some 34 years at 8, New Square (the chambers of Robin Jacob, Hugh Laddie, David Kitchin, amongst others), the last 15 years as a QC before becoming a Judge of the Chancery Division and the Patents Court in February 2021.
As a barrister, James had a wide-ranging practice covering all areas of IP but also contract cases with an IP or technical element. In addition to the traditional diet of patent cases, he had significant experience in the CJEU and some in General Court proceedings, in references or appeals relating to trade marks and copyright.
Since becoming a Judge, James has spent the majority of his time trying Patent cases, including the FRAND trial in Interdigital v Lenovo, but has also undertaken the wide range of work in the Chancery Division of the High Court.
Zoë Butler is a partner at Powell Gilbert, a specialist European IP firm based in London. She is a UK Solicitor Advocate, Irish Solicitor and UPC Representative. She is particularly known for her expertise in advising clients in complex patent disputes, often with an international element, and recently has acted in matters relating to technologies as diverse as telecoms, electronics/software, video-codec, robotics, oil & gas, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Zoë also advises on related issues arising from international technology standards, such as patent pools, licensing and FRAND, and counsels on patent litigation strategy, including pharmaceutical lifecycle management, with a wealth of experience in providing freedom to operate and due diligence advice. In addition to representing clients before the UK courts (including up to the Supreme Court), she has experience of European Patent Office opposition proceedings, and has represented clients in arbitration proceedings and mediations relating to technology contract disputes. Zoë has been involved in many multi-jurisdictional disputes, working with advisors from across Europe, North America, China, Korea, Japan and Australia, and, in many instances, has taken a role in coordinating such litigation.
Name: Alex Wilson
Position: Partner, Powell Gilbert
Alex Wilson is a partner at Powell Gilbert, a specialist European IP firm based in London. He is a UK Solicitor Advocate, Irish Solicitor and UPC Representative. He guides clients from a wide range of industries on strategies for exploiting and enforcing of intellectual property rights across Europe and other major markets. He has an international practice, particularly in matters of a multi-jurisdictional character, appearing regularly before the English courts and as supervising counsel in most European and Far Eastern patent courts. Alex‘s scientific background has put him in a good position to handle highly technical and standards related patent cases. He has acted in matters relating to technologies as diverse as speech coding, microcontrollers, GUIs, semi-conductors, graphics processing, medical devices, and mobile phones. Alex’s fluency in French and German allowed him to spend periods working in leading law firms in Paris and Düsseldorf. He is joint editor of an international commentary on the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court.
