Meet our Team: Sarah Neil

Continuing our ‘Meet our Team’ series, we ask Sarah Neil, a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney based in our London and Cambridge offices, about her journey into intellectual property, what she loves about Venner Shipley and what else she enjoys in life.

When did you join Venner Shipley/AA Thornton and what office do you work in?

I joined AA Thornton as a Trainee in 2012 in the London Office. Since the combination with Venner Shipley I’ve been grateful to have the opportunity to split my time between the London and Cambridge Offices.

How did you get into working in IP or your current role?

I fell in love with IP during the IP module of my law degree. As fate would have it, shortly before I spoke to my IP supervisor about careers in IP, a Trade Mark Attorney had left her contact details so students could reach out. She was kind enough to spend some time talking to me about the profession and helped me gain some work experience.

What areas do you currently specialise in in your role?

I specialise in all aspects of trade marks, with a particular focus on advising clients in relation to clearance and filing strategy and representing clients in contentious matters before the IPO. I am also an expert in domain name matters and have prosecuted a number of UDRP and DRS complaints.

What do you enjoy most about working in IP law?

I love the fact that IP surrounds us in our everyday lives, which makes it really easy to explain to people what I do for a living and share my passion with them. As a trade mark attorney in particular, it is a really satisfying feeling to help a client obtain protection for its mark and then see the product on the shelf. Within our trade mark team, we’re a nerdy bunch who are all very passionate about our work and we actually have a WhatsApp group that we use to share images with each other when we see our client’s trade marks “in the wild” – holiday snaps of brands overseas are always a favourite.

What recent successes have you had?

Professionally, I recently helped a small start-up business defend no less than four separate challenges to its trade mark application by negotiating commercial resolutions that worked for all parties involved. Winning contentious proceedings is always a good feeling, but it is particularly satisfying to help small and start-up businesses who are much more emotionally invested in their brand.

On a personal level, I jumped out of a boat and swam in open water in the hope of spotting some turtles in the Maldives last year. This sounds small, but it was a huge achievement for me. I’ve been terrified of water and reluctant to swim in open water as long as I can remember and facing my fears for the glimpse of a turtle was difficult (unfortunately, no, I didn’t find any turtles during my swim).

What’s the best thing about working at Venner Shipley?

The people! Venner Shipley genuinely has a supportive and diverse culture where people are encouraged to be themselves. People are always willing help and to get involved and since moving from AA Thornton we have all been warmly welcomed into the team by the existing Venner Shipley staff.

What do you think is the next big thing in IP? 

It has to be AI, the rise of AI and the numerous issues and queries it is raising is likely to prompt a close look at IP laws around the world and may lead to some legislative updates targeting AI.

What do you do outside of work?

In my downtime, I am usually found playing video games, making greetings cards or building craft kits (I’m rapidly running out of room for the number of model kits and Lego kits I have built).  I also enjoy taking walks out in nature during the warmer months or curling up with a good book when its colder.

Tell us a little more about you.

I grew up in the North East of England and I was the first in my family to obtain a degree and to enter a legal profession. I was guided in my journey into law by the Sutton Trust after being a student on one of their programmes back in 2007. This programme was invaluable to me, and I genuinely believe I would not be where I am today without it. Now I am more established in my career, it is time for me to pay that forward by supporting others. I dedicate time to supporting the Sutton Trust via work experience schemes, careers days and panel sessions and I am delighted that Venner Shipley is fully in support of these efforts. I also work with my local university to offer student mentoring, and I mentor via the CITMA mentoring scheme to support new entrants into the profession.

For more information about Trade Marks click here.