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Thomas Prock

Partner, Marks & Clerk

Thomas advises clients in the high tech field, in particular, the electronics sector on internet related subject matter and computer-implemented inventions. Thomas is moreover active in protecting inventions in the Cleantech and medical device field.

He has worked on patent applications relating to non-volatile semiconductor storage devices, data processing and exchange, mobile telecommunications, smart grid related inventions, waste reduction and medical imaging, to name a few. Thomas also has experience in contentious related matters, including European oppositions and litigation.

Thomas graduated with a Diploma in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Ulm (Germany) and went on to obtain his PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, where he investigated the interaction between radio frequency electromagnetic fields and conducting tissue, with particular emphasis on its application to the design of phased array resonators.

Having qualified as a Chartered (UK) and European Patent Attorney in 2007, in 2014 Thomas became one of the few professionals to also qualify as a Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney).

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Batanayi Katongera

Partner, MHA MacIntyre Hudson

Batanayi leads the transfer pricing service line at MHA and has over 18 years of transfer pricing experience in the UK across a broad spectrum of industry sectors including financial services, private equity, funds, manufacturing, media and technology, as well as life sciences and telecommunications.

Batanayi helps clients prepare and defend transfer pricing policies and he has a particular focus on resolving transfer pricing disputes involving complex transfer pricing enquiries.  This extends to handling MAP proceedings and agreeing APAs, and ATCAs. 

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Ian Bartlett

Partner, Beck Greener LLP

Ian Bartlett heads up the trade marks department at Beck Greener, which has been singled out in The UK Legal 500 UK for  its "excellent, personalised service".

Ian is an expert in trade mark and merchandising law, both in the United Kingdom and internationally, and is a skilled practitioner in the fields of copyright and designs.  Alongside his extensive practice at a UK and European level, he consults on the prosecution of intellectual property cases around the world.

Ian read philosophy at the University of Leeds before going on to study law at City University, London.  He trained as a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn, and was called to the English Bar in 1985.  With over 25 years’ experience of trade mark prosecution and contentious intellectual property disputes, Ian represents clients regularly at hearings before the UK Intellectual Property Office  (UKIPO) and Appointed Person.  He is ranked as the number 3 attorney of the list of trade mark attorneys and solicitors by appearance at hearings before the UKIPO (Source: CITMA Review, Issue 448, March/April 2019).  He also runs cases before EUIPO (the EU trade mark and designs office), their Board of Appeal, and works on cases referred to the General Court.

Whilst much of Ian’s work emanates from large multinational companies and high street names, he also represents a significant number of small businesses and sole traders.  As well as working for international publishers, major cosmetics brands, and some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, Ian has clients in fields as diverse as accountancy, telecommunications infrastructure, domestic flooring, pharmaceuticals, price comparison websites and highway maintenance.  As well as prosecuting and enforcing intellectual property rights for clients, Ian also advises on maintaining and building their portfolios, and provides practical, commercial, legal advice tailored towards their individual interests.

Ian teaches in the tribunal practice module of the Chartered Trade Mark Attorney course at Nottingham Law School.  He is a member of The Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys’ Law & Practice Committee and leads its Litigation Working Group.