European Patent Opposition Advocacy Workshop

Graham Ashley is a former chairman of a mechanics BA and member of the EBA. He has a background in metallurgy and holds a PhD in corrosion science from Cambridge. He qualified as a barrister in 1996 and was a member of the committee for the EQE for patent attorneys (C-Paper: Opposition). He is currently involved in training national judges in patent law and was recently appointed as a part-time technical judge in the UPC.

Leythem Wall is the Director of Oxon IP. He is a European and UK patent attorney and litigator, specialising in EPO Oppositions and Appeals in the chemical, consumer products, energy, material, medical, pharmaceutical and tobacco sectors. Prior to founding Oxon IP, he was a partner in major European and US IP law firms, and before that in-house patent counsel for ExxonMobil and AkzoNobel.

Grant Philpott completed 32 years at the EPO in the operational patent grant area, starting as an examiner and culminating as COO. He chaired opposition proceedings in both mechanics and industrial chemistry and was a member of the committee for the EQE for patent attorneys (A+B Papers: Drafting and Replying). He studied engineering at Cambridge University and is a founder director of TTN.

Franco Cordera spent 35 years at the EPO, first as an examiner in telecoms and then as a director in the field of video and multimedia technology. During his time at the EPO he acted as first member and chairman of many opposition divisions and has also served as a lecturer for the International Patent Academy. Additional responsibilities included training, coaching and the development of scripts and training material for new examiners.

Richard Ash recently retired after spending 39 years at the EPO and has been involved in hundreds of opposition cases. Richard has a wealth of experience as first examiner, second examiner and chair in opposition work at the EPO. From 2017 to 2022, as a director specialising in opposition proceedings, he chaired 40 to 50 opposition cases per year, trained examiners in opposition work and was active in the transition of oral proceedings from face-to-face to video conference hearings.