Kei Enomoto

Specialisation

Representation before the European Patent Office in examination, opposition and appeal proceedings; prosecuting patents before the UK Intellectual Property Office; advising with respect to UKIPO opinions and providing infringement and validity opinions; leading a legal and technical team in an invalidation action before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.

Kei has extensive experience in a wide variety of technological fields, in particular in packaging for food and cosmetics and in medical devices, but also in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, veterinary sciences, food technology, analytical devices and industrial sciences.

She advises clients around the world in connection with British and European patents and designs. Kei travels frequently to Japan and has lectured in seminars organised by the Japanese Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA) and the Asian Patent Attorney Association (APAA), as well as at pharmaceutical events organised by the UK Department for International Trade (DTI, formerly the UKTI) in Tokyo and Osaka. Also as a French national, Kei advises and offers training and lectures to French-speaking clients.

Professional memberships

Member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), the International Liaison Committee of the CIPA, the European Patent Institute (EPI), the Royal Society of Chemistry, MIP Women in IP Global Network.

Career

Kei studied chemistry at Université Paris-XII Orsay (DUT), chemistry and business at Kingston University (BSc) and pharmaceutical analysis and Quality Control at King’s College London (MSc). She completed a thesis in the field of agrochemicals at University College London (PhD) in collaboration with Syngenta.

After starting her career in a well-known intellectual property firm in Paris, Kei spent 14 years working in a UK firm where she became a partner in the Life Sciences Department in 2014. Kei also spent time working as an in-house consultant for a major multi-national company in Switzerland, where she assisted in the development of its European IP Department.

British Patent Attorney since 2008 and European Patent Attorney since 2010. With HOFFMANN EITLE since 2019.