AI team

— Meet the team
— Insights from our team
— Other teams

The AI team offers a wealth of experience across a broad range of AI inventions from telecommunications protocols to photophosphorylation and from Smart Cities to Natural Language Processing. Pooling our extensive knowledge in regular update meetings, we have a cutting-edge understanding of the latest technology and of the latest legal precedents and strategies. We also work to spread understanding of AI patenting, presenting at seminars, lobbying for better protection of AI by contributing to official consultations, and spreading the word about what currently is and is not patentable in articles.

We enjoy working with all of the companies who have an AI focus, whether implementing AI in a new area or developing the AI algorithms/networks or the hardware supporting them. The strength and depth in our AI team covers the whole range of AI solutions and we support SMEs, universities, and global companies, striving for the best AI patent protection to suit the individual commercial strategy.

We often work together with our HLK colleagues from different technical disciplines, to supplement their expert knowledge of a technology field with specialised AI input to get the right level of protection for the use of AI in that field. In this way we can offer a combination of our specialist AI knowledge with the relevant technical expertise for the sector concerned.

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Meet the team

Below are the key members of the AI team.

Gemma Robin

Gemma Robin

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

As a partner in our AI team, Gemma handles complex AI subject matter with a particular focus on explainability, safety, and verification of AI models. Gemma has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the fields of Reinforcement Learning (including Safe RL), Transfer Learning, and Distributed Learning, as well as applications of probabilistic graphical models, control theory and optimisation.

Gemma’s many years of telecommunications experience, and her familiarity with security and encryption technology, mean she is comfortable handling subject matter at the intersection of AI and multiple related disciplines, as well as AI deployment solutions over cloud, fog and Internet of Things networks. Gemma enjoys building excellent working relationships with in house counsel, AI engineers and researchers, pursuing a collaborative approach to securing high quality, commercially valuable protection for innovations at the forefront of AI development.

Lisa Willaims

Lisa Williams

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Lisa is a partner in our AI team who is notable for the strong relationships that she establishes with the inventors and clients that she works with. Many of these return time after time, asking for Lisa to handle their work.

Lisa has a wealth of experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the field of AI, including those relating to supervised learning (classification, regression, and forecasting), semi-supervised learning, unsupervised learning (clustering, and dimensionality reduction), reinforcement learning, and explainable AI.

As Lisa is so heavily involved in handling cases in this fast-moving field, she sees first-hand how the emerging law is being applied to patent applications. This positions her well when it comes to explaining the challenges and considerations that businesses should be aware of when patenting AI inventions. Lisa’s AI experience spans various technologies, from healthcare to telecommunications, and she also has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to other types of software, such as in virtual networks, cloud computing systems, automation, and the Internet of Things. The knowledge that Lisa has built up means that she understands even the most complex of AI inventions and how they may be applied in different technical fields. Most of Lisa’s time is spent working with large multinational European companies and clients in the US, which means that she has an appreciation for the differing laws and practices. Lisa also works with high-tech start-ups, applying her commercial mindset to develop their IP and business planning to add value to their businesses.

Caroline Day

Caroline Day

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Caroline is a former coder, now partner in the AI team, who has followed AI’s progression from expert systems, through ‘big data’ right up to the present day. She enjoys the puzzle of writing patent applications for AI inventions at a time when the law and practice is yet to fully crystallise, actively seeking to build drafting strategies and practices to future-proof applications written now, but to be examined and tested in the years to come.

Her innate intellectual curiosity in this fascinating area drives her to fully understand AI inventions, while her ability to characterise these at different levels of abstraction bridges the gap between inventors, patent managers and patent examiners.

Frances Wilding

Frances Wilding

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Frances is a partner in our AI team who is highly regarded for her instinctive ability to craft simple, commercially-focussed solutions to complex problems. Frances has built up significant experience in drafting and prosecuting Machine Learning and other algorithm/software patent applications worldwide, but primarily in Europe and the US, focussing on Bioinformatics, CNNs/Deep Learning, simulations, data centres, cloud and Internet of Things inventions and business-related software.

She also brings a wealth of experience from her many years as an Examiner at the European Patent Office where she conducted both examination and opposition proceedings in a wide variety of fields. Frances’ extensive experience across a broad range of subject matter allows her to work together with clients from many different technical areas, who are now looking to protect AI inventions for their business. She enjoys the commercial aspects of client advice, including portfolio management, litigation preparation and due diligence projects.

Olivia Crawford

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Whilst working at HLK Olivia has developed a particular passion for drafting and prosecuting machine learning related inventions.

Olivia’s experience in drafting AI related applications includes those directed to supervised learning, unsupervised learning, graph neural networks, and multi-task learning (to name but a few), and she also has experience in the overlap of the use of these AI techniques in cloud environments. The sheer number and variety of applications that Olivia has now drafted and prosecuted in this area has afforded her with a deep understanding of the subtle issues involved in this technology, and she is confident in handling the new concepts and innovation that so often arise in this rapidly evolving field.

During her career Olivia has completed two secondments to a fabless semiconductor company based in Austin, Texas, specialising in signal processing. The completion of these secondments allowed her a valuable insight into the strategic considerations undertaken by an in-house team, and this insight has guided her process in an outside-counsel role since. She truly believes in the importance of outside-counsel seamlessly forming part of the in-house team.

Isobel Finnie

Isobel Finnie

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Isobel leads the life sciences and biotechnology team at HLK and brings her considerable experience of patenting in the biotechnology, healthcare and precision medicine space to the AI team’s Bioinformatics projects. Her collaborative approach and insightful analysis is valued in creating IP strategies to support clients’ commercial requirements.

Joanne Addison

Joanne Addison

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Jo works in the chemistry and life sciences team at HLK and brings her extensive experience of drafting and prosecuting European patent applications in chemistry and materials fields to the AI team. Jo has been working within the AI team to consider how lessons learnt from drafting and prosecuting patent applications in chemistry fields can be applied to writing patent applications for AI, as well as the role AI plays in chemistry and life sciences inventions that employ AI to some extent and how best to draft applications relating to such inventions.

Greg Ward

Greg Ward

UK and European Patent Attorney | UPC Representative

Greg’s patent drafting and prosecution experience encompasses a broad range of AI subject matter, from more theoretical AI concepts to the application of AI to complex physical systems. He is recognised by both clients and colleagues as an expert in the fields of electronics and telecommunications, and his drafting work has a particular focus on the intersection of AI and telecommunications technologies.

Greg ensures a collaborative approach with inventors and in house counsel throughout patent drafting and prosecution processes, with all parties striving to obtain the most comprehensive and commercially valuable protection possible.

Insights from our team

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Other cross disciplinary teams

The AI team offers a wealth of experience across a broad range of AI inventions from telecommunications protocols to photophosphorylation and from Smart Cities to Natural Language Processing.

The Life sciences & healthcare team offers you a broad range of expertise in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnology field combined with long-term extensive IP experience which includes advising innovative pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

HLK has a proven track record in EPO opposition proceedings. In particular, HLK consistently outperform EPO averages on behalf of opponents.

The Materials team is highly experienced in protecting innovations across the whole field of materials science, from the synthesis of nanomaterials in the lab to the fine-tuning of industrial metallurgical treatments.

HLK’s FemTech team is comprised of a dedicated group of experienced IP professionals who have a specific interest in innovation for women, and are keen to play a part in addressing the disparity in resources and innovation directed to the advancement of women’s health.

Our Electronic systems and circuits team has extensive expertise across a range of electronics technologies, such as ultra low-power sensing systems, audio and RF electronics, vehicle electrification and high voltage electricity generation and distribution systems.

HLK’s Green tech team offers extensive experience and expertise in protecting innovations in the environmental sector. Members of the team have substantial technical expertise in a wide range of technological fields, including low carbon energies, energy storage, recycling technologies and alternative plastics.

As the semiconductor industry advances and innovation accelerates, attorneys at HLK continue to operate at the forefront of our profession, with an unrivalled breadth of technical expertise across the entire semiconductor lifecycle as well first-hand experience in the industry. This experience coupled with outstanding IP capability and commercial insight gives our clients in the industry peace of mind that the right technical expert with the right IP skillset is handling their IP.