I have over 30 years experience in trade marks, in both external practices, the best known of which is Grant Spencer Caisley & Porteous, and in-house at Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline), when I was responsible for the worldwide HIV and anti-viral trade mark portfolio for the entire group.

I am highly-qualified for this work - my law degree is from London University (Queen Mary), the noted specialist for IP Law. Professor Jeremy Philips himself taught me. And, in 2013, he said “Claire Lazenby is a very fine exponent of the subtleties of trade mark practice” (Katpost, 23 December 2013). And I also specialised at QM in EEC law. Which, with the advent of the EU trade mark system in 1996, I have put to good use every day since then. And, now with Brexit, is even more helpful.

I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys, www.citma.org.uk by examination. Not everyone who works in trade mark law has passed this exam. It’s very tough.

I have edited case law bulletins for both this Institute and the European Communities Trade Mark Association www.ecta.org. I have contributed to the Community Trade Marks Handbook and Trade Mark Law: A Practical Anatomy.

I lobby for reforms for trade mark law, both in my personal capacity and also through ECTA, for whom I served the eight-year term of Council Member 2012-2022 and was also on  ECTA’s Harmonisation Committee, on the Committee Link to WIPO, and was also one of ECTA’s Madrid Task Managers. I’ve contributed comments and drafts for both the 2015 EU Regulation and the draft implementing regulations. I currently sit on the UK CITMA WIPO Committee. In 2020, I became a consultant to the UK/Ireland firm Briffa https://www.briffa.com.

Briffa is a boutique law firm comprised of specialist intellectual property, information technology and data protection lawyers. Briffa advises on all aspects of intellectual property law and practice including contentious and non-contentious matters relating to trade marks, design rights, copyright and patents. To find out more, visit www.briffa.com. The practice was founded by Margaret Briffa in 1995 who pursued her passion for helping businesses to unlock their IP and use it to grow their businesses. Since then, the firm has become one of the most vibrant and respected IP firms in the UK with a team of 20. Briffa has its UK headquarters in the Business Design Centre in London, and now has EU offices in Malta and Ireland. The firm also works with a network of approximately 50 overseas  law firms enabling it to provide a global service to its clients.  To find out more, visit www.briffa.com.

I am regulated by the Intellectual Property Regulation Board www.ipreg.org.uk

I am insured by PAMIA, for £5m, which is well above the minimum recommended by IPReg.