Influential women 21
WIPR Influential Women in IP 2019
www.worldipreview.com
Inga-Lill Andersson
BUSINESS AREA MANAGER, NORTH
SWEDEN, AWA SWEDEN, SWEDEN
Inga-Lill Andersson is a senior European patent
attorney who specialises in chemistry and
biotechnology, focusing on protein chemistry,
pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry and
implant technology. Her practice focuses on
patent applications, due diligence investigations
and freedom-to-operate analyses, encompassing
infringement and validity issues. She has experience
of oppositions and appeals before the European
Patent Office. She also holds a CEIPI Diploma
in European patent litigation from Strasbourg
University in France. Before joining Awapatent in
2000, she worked as an analytical chemist at the
pharma company AstraZeneca. She is a member of
the Institute of Professional Representatives before
the European Patent Office.
MaryAnne Armstrong
PARTNER, BSKB, US
MaryAnne Armstrong is a partner at Birch
Stewart Kolasch Birch and focuses her practice on
prosecuting patent applications and post-grant
practice in the fields of pharmaceutical chemistry,
organic chemistry, medical devices, biotechnology,
and plants. She is also experienced in pharma and
biopharma-related procedures such as requests
for patent term extension. She has written for
World IP Review and our sister publication Life
Sciences IP Review. She was admitted to the Virginia
Bar in 2000 and is registered to practise before the
US Patent and Trademark Office.
Rachna Bakhru
PARTNER, RNA IP, INDIA
After spending more than two decades managing
contentious and non-contentious IP matters in
India, Rachna Bakhru has gained expertise in
brand clearance, risk assessment, litigation, and
dispute resolution. Bakhru has advised large
international companies on issues related to trade
name disputes, trade secrets, software piracy, and
e-commerce, particularly in the pharmaceutical
and IT sectors. She also advises startups on the
patentability of inventions and prosecution.
Outside of her practice, Bakhru adjudicates .in
and .co.in domain disputes as an arbitrator at the
National Internet Exchange of India.
Adriana Barrera
MANAGING PARTNER, BARLAW-
BARRERA & ASOCIADOS, PERU
Adriana Barrera founded Barlaw-Barrera &
Asociados in 2011. With 23 years of experience,
Barrera focuses her practice on the protection and
defence of trademarks and copyrights. Barrera
has handled cases for companies including
Crocs, Adidas, Puma, Apple, Procter & Gamble,
and Chanel. She previously served as president
of the American Chamber of Commerce’s IP
committee and as a member of INTA’s data
protection committee. Barrera has also served on
Marques’ anti-counterfeiting committee and the
enforcement and anti-counterfeiting committee
at AIPPI. Additionally, Barrera trains government
officials and students in coordination with a
national commission charged with fighting
counterfeits.
Ronit Barzik-Soffer
SENIOR PARTNER, REINHOLD COHN
GROUP, ISRAEL
Ronit Barzik-Soffer graduated from Tel Aviv
University with her LLB in 1992, was admitted as
a lawyer in 1994 and became a licensed mediator
in 2004. She has experience in intellectual
property law and especially in trademarks. She
is a senior partner and heads the trademark
department at Reinhold Cohn. Barzik-Soffer also
lectures occasionally in the field of trademarks,
Israeli academia and miscellaneous additional
topics. She is a member of AIPPI, the Israel Bar
Association, Marques, and has been a member of
INTA since 2004.
Laëtitia Bénard
PARTNER, ALLEN & OVERY, FRANCE
Laëtitia Bénard leads Allen & Overy’s Paris office’s
IP practice, co-heads the firm’s life sciences group
worldwide, and was elected as a member of Allen
& Overy’s board worldwide in February 2018.
She has a wealth of expertise in all IP areas. As
a patent litigator, she has acted in numerous
high-profile international disputes. In life
sciences, she has unique experience in the French
market and is able to advise on pharmaceutical
regulatory issues and their interplay with IP law.
Notable cases include representing Novartis in a
patent nullity and infringement action against
Teva, obtaining the highest amount of provisional
damages ever awarded in France, and representing
Pfizer in patent nullity and enforcement actions,
leading to a landmark decision holding for the
first time in France that a second medical use
patent was valid.