I was then invited to join the legal function and moved to Australia. I worked in general law, but there was always a lot of IP involved – not so much at the technical level, but more on issues such as marketing and advertising law, unfair competition, infringements and parasitical copying as well as managing the trade mark use programme. One of the issues we had to deal with at that time was the Pepsi Challenge. Part of the job was protecting the trade mark from the exuberance of the marketing people: when you work for a large branded goods company, everything comes back to the brand.

After two years I moved to the United States doing general legal work covering Asia and Africa, including issues relating to parallel trade and anti-counterfeiting. I also spent time in Hong Kong working on the Company’s re-entry into China, and I had two spells in Japan, where I also covered Korea. Ultimately I had responsibility for legal issues throughout Asia, including India – where an NGO hijacked the brand to highlight issues in India with pesticides and water quality. This resulted in a great deal of litigation and brand reputational issues.

Finally I moved to London with responsibility for everything outside the Americas; that was a very big role, which proved impractical, so it was changed to cover all of Europe instead. Over my 32-year career I worked pretty much all over the world, except for the Middle East and Latin America. It sounds like a long time to be at one company, but I only ever spent a few years in one place and each jurisdiction had its own leadership style so it felt like joining a new company every time. I think that’s one reason why Coke is so successful internationally.

How did you get the role at MARQUES?
I was approached by a headhunter and the role attracted me because it was outside mainstream legal work but still involved legal subject matter, and both private practice and in-house lawyers. It also had a management element and I was used to that – in the global role at Coca-Cola I was managing about 120 people.

What is the aim of the role?
We want to take MARQUES to an even more professional level. MARQUES is run very well, essentially, by a group of volunteers and a small number of retained staff and by coordinating the organisation we can take it to another level. I think there is a lot of scope to grow MARQUES without losing the intimacy that people value.

Membership is a big part of that, and in particular creating awareness of the organisation and the work that it does. I think that work distinguishes MARQUES from some other professional organisations, but people are not always aware of that. So we want to build awareness and membership, and leverage the excellent substance that goes on in the teams. I have a lot of admiration for the people on the teams and the work they do, and we want to make sure it’s not just for internal use.

I will also be talking to prospective new corporate members. I think they can contribute a lot to MARQUES but also learn a lot. It is very valuable, especially for junior IP lawyers, to be able to learn from seasoned practitioners and the training is a huge benefit for the employer. MARQUES also has very good contacts at the government and inter-governmental level which is a big benefit for corporates. If you corporates can see view the cost of membership as being part of the training and legal/external relations budgets it can be viewed as an investment rather than a cost. Corporates want to see value for money and I think we MARQUES can show that.

From a corporate point-of-view, it is also enormously beneficial to hear from people in other industries, and how they approach particular problems. It can provide a great support network for in-house professionals. We have a lot to learn from each other on a range of issues such as plain packaging, for example.

Will you be doing a lot of travelling?
I recently attended a meeting of the sister organisations in Turin. The meeting was very congenial and the different groups all have useful views. I think MARQUES uniquely brings the brand-owner perspective.

Next I will be going to Alicante for the conference on designs in April and I will be going to the INTA Annual Meeting in Dallas in May.

What do you do in your spare time?
I like to play tennis. I used to play in Regents Park when I lived in London before and that is a good way to keep fit. I used to play golf a lot when I was in the US and Japan, but I haven’t played for a few years. I’m also interested in classic cars – I had a ’68 Mercedes SL, but I sold it when I moved to Australia. I wished I hadn’t now.

Having worked all over the world, which is your favourite city?
I enjoyed my two spells in Tokyo, which was very different to everywhere else I’ve been – in terms of culture, food and the people. Flying back in to Tokyo always felt like coming home. I had lessons in Japanese, so I picked up a bit but everyone there was always keen to speak English, and I travelled around Japan a bit. The orderliness of the country appeals to me, and the sense of community and pride among people. I try to go back about once a year to see friends.

I now live in London, a city which I really enjoy, and also have a home in Sydney. But I still have a New Zealand passport. It’s useful really – not that many of us and located at the end of the world, so it often sparks a conversation and eases the way – it’s kind of neutral in a way.