Meet the officers
Our team of officers are elected by our governing Council to lead CITMA. They all serve two-year terms.
Dan Hardman-Smart, President
[email protected]
Dan joined Stobbs in July 2019 after working as a solo practitioner and small business owner. He has assisted many entrepreneurs and SMEs with protecting their trade marks, passing off rights and designs.
He is particularly interested in international trade marks and managing portfolios around the world, and has a specialism in the registration and maintenance of trade marks in isolated or less known jurisdictions.
He has been a lead tutor on the CITMA Paralegal Course for a number of years and currently chairs the CITMA Paralegal Committee.
Ese Akpogheneta, First Vice-President
[email protected]
Ese has over 20 years’ experience in the global IP field and has spent time working in Asia, in particular China and Hong Kong.
While in private practice Ese assisted clients ranging from individuals to start-ups to SMEs to multinationals in securing IP protection in various sectors.
Ese is currently Trade Mark Counsel at BAT where she has responsibility for the protection and enforcement of BAT’s vapour trade mark portfolio globally.
She is also a member of the IP Inclusive management team, and serves on the CITMA AI Taskforce and chairs the Education, Qualification and Standards Committee.
Jade MacIntyre, Second Vice-President/ Treasurer
[email protected]
Jade has represented clients before the UK IPO, the High Court and the EUIPO boards of Appeal. She regularly works with major brands and international organisations in relation to trade mark selection, clearance searches, enforcement (including anti-counterfeiting, oppositions and revocations, passing off and domain name disputes) and agreements (licenses, assignments and co-existence).
Jade is a regular and popular speaker on UK trade mark law. She has worked primarily in private practice, but has spent a year working in America in the in-house trade mark team of a major technology company based in Seattle.
Kelly Saliger, Immediate Past-President
[email protected]
A dual qualified Chartered Trade Mark Attorney and Solicitor, Kelly has a wealth of experience advising brand owners on all matters relating to trade mark and design portfolios.
Kelly has over 10 years’ experience in the field and specialises in international litigation, enforcement and strategy particularly in the field of technology and media. She has acted before the Appointed Person and led multi-territorial prosecution and litigation. Kelly chairs our Executive Committee.