First-class academicians and practitioners

Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, MTOM, PhD, is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at the University of Surrey School of Law, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, partner at Brown, Neri, Smith & Khan, LLP, and a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, Inc.

He is the author of “The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law” published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. He has published widely on issues associated with life sciences and intellectual property in leading legal, medical, and scientific books and journals.

Pauline is a research assistant and PhD candidate at the Bucerius Center for Transnational IP, Media and Technology Law and Policy. She studied law at Bucerius Law School and Queen Mary University of London, and passed the first German state examination in 2021. Pauline is currently writing her PhD thesis on the links between IP and the circular economy. Her research is focused on intellectual property law, fashion and sustainability.

Dr. Stefan Dittmer is Partner at Dentons. He advises companies on all aspects of intellectual property law, including licensing, with a focus on technology, media and digitization. He represents clients in disputes relating to unfair competition, copyright, trademarks, patents and designs, and in general commercial disputes before courts of law and arbitral tribunals.

Michael Friedman studied law at the University of California at Berkeley before later practicing as an attorney in the San Francisco Bay area as public defender. In addition to having served as an external lecturer at Bucerius since 2006, he has instructed on negotiation in various settings, including at the Universities of Graz and Innsbruck as well as at the GISMA Business School in Hannover. He has lived in Hamburg since 2004 where he works with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. 

Dr. Philipp Dohnke is a partner in the intellectual property and information technology practice at the Hamburg office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He focusses on transactions in the pharma, biotech and broader life science sector, including on product and site divestments, collaborations and licensing deals, as well as projects relating to the digitalization of the sector and the implementation of data driven business models.

Jacek Lagoni supports Google Cloud and online advertising products as an Associate Legal Counsel at Google. He focuses on negotiations of complex deals and contract drafting in the areas of IT law and data protection law.

Allison is the Head of the IP Commercialization Section at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Building on her experience as an intellectual property attorney for a Fortune 500 company and an inventor, her team empowers enterprises, innovators, and creators to maximize their potential through the creation and commercialization of IP. She has worked with more than 50 countries to develop their legislative frameworks and support businesses through their creativity and ingenuity.

Dr. Ulf Marquardt, LL.M.is a Swiss, German and European Patent and Trademark Attorney. He currently manages Development Partnerships for Nestlé. Previously, he headed Patents, Regulatory and Scientific Intelligence at Nestlé Research,  advised on Licensing and provided guidance to the Dairy and Food Strategic Business Units (e.g., NIDO, MILO, NESQUIK, MAGGI, BUITONI, HERTA) on all legal matters including IP and Brand communication. Prior to joining Nestlé, Ulf has obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Nobel Laureate Prof. Huber and has worked in a private IP law firm for 5 years, where he has gained significant experience in the prosecution and defense of patents and trademarks.

Zoi Michalopoulou, LL.M. is an associate lawyer at Dentons. She advises and represents national and international clients in all matters of intellectual property and technology law. She focuses in particular on licensing agreements, unfair competition, trade secrets, copyright and trademark law. Zoi is qualified as a German attorney-at-law (Rechtsanwältin) at the Berlin Bar Association, in addition as a Greek attorney-at-law (Dikigoros) at the Athens Bar Association. As a doctoral candidate at the Bucerius IP Center, she has written her dissertation on digital exhaustion in copyright law and blockchain-related issues.

Philipp Plog is Managing Partner at Fieldfisher LLP (Hamburg office). He advises with a focus on technology and digital business models and represents in particular e-commerce platforms, legal tech providers and content providers in the strategic direction, liability, licensing and defense of their business models. In this context, he is involved in numerous litigations, both in Germany and cross-border, and acts on behalf of his clients before regulatory authorities."

Prof. Dr. Ritlewski is Of Counsel at Orth Kluth in Berlin and a professor at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. He focuses his practice on litigation and strategic advice in all fields of IP law, unfair competition and media law. Prof. Ritlewski has written several publications on Intellectual Property Law and Policy, Media Regulation and International Arbitration.

Lezel directs the Foreign Language Communication Program at Bucerius. In addition to being a Qualified English Language Teacher accredited through the University of Cambridge, she is also a Qualified Lawyer in South Africa and member of the Cape Law Society. She is a part-time lecturer at the Macromedia University for Media and Communication in the area of Media Law and IP Law.

Stefan Papastefanou advises domestic and international clients in the areas of intellectual property (IP), especially patent law and licensing, information technology (IT), with a focus on data protection as well as the law of trade secrets and know-how.

Christian joined Hogan Lovells in 2001 and is a partner in the Hamburg office. He is specialized in intellectual property matters with a particular focus on patents, trademarks, unfair competition and license agreements.

Karsten Thorn received a doctorate in law at the University of Trier. In February 2004, he completed his post-doctoral thesis on the "Coordination of Private Legal Systems through the Application of Foreign Conflicts Law," as well as with an audition lecture on "Bearing of Risk after the Cancellation of Contract" at the University of Trier. Later that year, Thorn accepted the chair of Civil Law, Private International and International Commercial Law and Comparative Law at Bucerius Law School.

Libby Toub is a patent attorney with 15 years of experience as in-house counsel at Apple, IBM, and Capital One. Prior to her practice as an attorney, Libby worked for several years as an engineer in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and gained a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering. She has previously taught Tech Licensing courses and Externship Programs as an Adjunct Law Professor at her J.D. alma mater, Santa Clara University. 

Dr. Westpfahl is a Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property Law and partner at ROSE & PARTNER. She advises national and international companies on all aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and IP and IT related contracts, such as license agreements, research and development agreements as well as IP assignment and transfer agreements. Her practice also includes drafting and negotiating distribution contracts.