Dr Hannon serves as a Patent Attorney with the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) in which he represents the United States before UPOV.

Prior to joining OPIA, for ten years, Dr Hannon served as a patent examiner in the wireless telecommunications field. During his employment at the USPTO, Dr Hannon has served in the Office of the Secretary and Director as an expert advisor. He has also served on detail to the Office of the Solicitor and in OPIA prior to joining there full time.

Dr Hannon received his Juris Doctorate from George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, in 2012. Dr Hannon holds undergraduate degrees in electrical and computer engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, in addition to an undergraduate degree in computer science from Elon University, NC.

Dr. Greenwald is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Intellectual Property (IP) practice in Dallas. She focuses her practice on IP, concentrating on transactional and patent matters, especially those pertaining to microbiology, biotechnology, and plants. Furthermore, she manages global PVR, Plant Patent and Patent portfolios across 22 jurisdictions, prosecution of utility patents involving genetically modified plants and plant products, and develops legal strategies for a client in the area of biotechnology. Prior to entering law school, she earned her doctorate in Plant Pathology and Microbiology from Texas A&M University. Jessie is a member of the Texas Aggie Bar Association, Dallas Bar Association and Dallas Association of Young Lawyers.

Travis Bliss
Partner at Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP

Travis Bliss counsels a variety of clients ranging from individual inventors to small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in nearly all aspects of Intellectual Property law. Travis prepares and prosecutes patent applications; litigates patent, Trademark, and other IP disputes in federal and state courts; represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board; counsels clients in a variety of IP issues, including due diligence, FTO, infringement, and patentability; and prepares and negotiates IP licenses. From a technology standpoint, Travis’s practice falls largely within the life sciences field and also includes a large focus on novel plant varieties in the agriculture, horticulture, and cannabis/hemp industries. Travis has been a lawyer member of CIOPORA since 2014.

Laura Pitts counsels clients on IP protection and enforcement strategies, manages clients’ global trademark portfolios and executes domestic and international trademark filings. Laura has experience preparing and responding to pre-trial, discovery, and dispositive motions in complex IP litigation and counterfeiting.

James Wilson is a member of the London and Washington, D.C. Corporate Tax practice groups at Baker McKenzie and handles international tax planning matters. James advises on all aspects of UK corporate and commercial tax. He concentrates on international tax planning issues with a particular focus on UK and European inbound planning for North American headquartered multinationals and multi-jurisdictional group reorganisations and restructurings. He is an Oxford Law Graduate and hold an Executive LLM Taxation Degree from the New York University.

Alexandra Minkovich is a Counsel in Baker McKenzie’s North American Tax Practice. She has over a decade of experience handling a variety of tax, tax controversy and legislative issues. She also brings significant experience representing clients with respect to domestic tax issues, including advising financial institutions, and is well versed in administrative law. She is a member of Tax Sections of both American and New York Bar Associations. Alexandra holds a Master of Laws LL.M. Taxation degree from the New York University School of Law, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Columbia Law School, and a B.A. of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Juan Alberto is a lawyer in both Chile and Mexico. His practice is focused on providing legal counsel and services in the Industrial Property field, specifically Plant Varieties, but also Trademarks, Denominations of Origin and Domain Names. Besides Chile and Mexico, he manages PVR portfolios across Latin America and worldwide. He is professor of PVR at the Catholic University of Chile and the Finis Terrae University, both located in Santiago de Chile.

Mr Philippe Benjamin (Ben) Rivoire joined UPOV in 2012, after having started his career in the fruit production sector in Spain and Africa and in the vegetable breeding industry. Ben is now the Head of Seed Sector Cooperation and Regional Development (Africa, Arab Countries) in UPOV. On the technical side, he is in charge of the support for the UPOV Technical Working Parties for Fruit Crops and Vegetables. On the development and regional side, he is contributing to the delivery of UPOV’s program of assistance in Africa and the Middle East and in charge of the Cooperation with the Seed sector. Last but not least, from the business perspective, he is in charge of UPOV PRISMA, the PBR On-line Application Tool, driving the Tool development in line with the needs and expectations of the applicants and the breeding industry.