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IP Counsel Europe

Employer
Diageo
Location
London (Central), London (Greater)
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
16 Jul 2017

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Job Details

About Diageo

Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks company, a business built on the principles and foundations laid by the giants of our industry.

The company’s purpose, celebrating life, every day, everywhere means that its brands are part of celebrations big and small. Diageo believes that living its purpose in full is to make the most of life - to be the best you can be at work, at home, with friends, in the community, and for the community.

Diageo’s Brands

Diageo is home to some of the world’s leading premium drinks brands including Gordon’s, Smirnoff, Baileys, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Johnnie Walker and Guinness. Diageo’s brands are the principal assets of its business. In an ever-changing and increasingly complex global landscape, Diageo’s global IP team is committed to protecting these brands and helping them move with the modern times whilst ensuring that their purpose and heritage preserved for future generations.

Rare and Outstanding Opportunities to Join Diageo

Two new roles have recently been created in Diageo’s highly respected IP team:

Senior IP Counsel Europe

This position is at management level. With three lawyers in your team, you will have direct responsibility for Diageo’s European business, ensuring and delivering high quality, commercially astute and cost-effective IP  support. You will lead on the Europe IP strategy as well as having day-to-day responsibility for all IP matters for this key part of Diageo’s business. In addition, you will have global responsibility for at least one of  Diageo’s product categories and will support the relevant global brand director(s) in the strategy for growing the category and protecting the brand equity and underlying IP across all 180+ markets .

Your level of responsibility will extend to managing an  IP budget in a creative and  cost-effective way. You will also be active in the development of your team and their careers at Diageo and in ensuring the marketing and innovation teams and the wider business receive the best possible guidance on  all  IP issues.

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role, a strong background in trade marks, copyright and designs is essential. You will be operating at a 10+ years’ post-qualification level in contentious and non-contentious IP matters including trade mark litigation, global trade mark prosecution and, ideally, IP aspects of corporate transactions.  You must be able to demonstrate strong leadership experience and be able to hit the ground running when it comes to managing a team. This role is best suited to someone with a clear passion for IP and a genuine desire to lead and develop a team.  In-house experience will be highly regarded, although candidates from private practice are also encouraged to apply. This is a key role within the Diageo legal team and a highly visible role within the business. As a result, you must be able to demonstrate a willingness to take a proactive approach to IP and an ability to  develop relationships across the wider Diageo business.

IP Counsel Europe (1+)

With this role, you will be required to deliver high quality, commercially astute and cost-effective IP advice across a wide range of issues. In particular, . you will support the European innovation  team and be a key contact for the Europe marketing team, supporting ground-breaking innovation in the industry and advising on high profile marketing campaigns. You will also help manage all aspects of Diageo’s extensive European trade mark portfolio and, working closely with the Senior IP Counsel, ensure the effective enforcement of Diageo’s IP rights across Europe.  

Skills and Experience

A strong background in trade marks is essential, including knowledge of European Community trade mark, design and copyright laws and experience handling IP enforcement matters. In addition, experience drafting and negotiating IP related documents, such as licences, assignments and co-existence agreements will also be beneficial. You must be able to demonstrate a keen interest in working in a fast-paced in-house environment. Both contentious and non-contentious IP experience will be considered.

The Diageo Business

These positions are part of the well-respected, highly commercial global legal team and are an exceptional opportunity to work with one of the best brands companies in the world.

For further information please contact our exclusive search partner, Maneesha Howard at Graff Search, on 020 8305 2837, maneesha@graffsearch.co.uk or Apply below.

Company

Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks company, a business built on the principles and foundations laid by the giants of our industry.

The company’s purpose, celebrating life, every day, everywhere means that its brands are part of celebrations big and small. Diageo believes that living its purpose in full is to make the most of life - to be the best you can be at work, at home, with friends, in the community, and for the community.

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