On 21 September, around 30 students took part in an IP training session in Lisbon, joining both online and in person.

The session was organised by the MARQUES Anti-Counterfeiting and Parallel Trade Team, together with ELSA Lusófona Lisboa and ELSA U.Porto, and hosted at Universidade Lusófona.

The training aimed to give students practical insights into IP rights, brand protection programmes across different industries, and strategies for tackling counterfeiting and parallel imports.

Speakers from a wide range of industries shared their perspectives, including representatives from:

• RECKITT (Ervina Vasiljevic, Global Brand Protection Counsel)
• Hugo Boss (Nicole Klug, Global Head of Intellectual Property Department)
• John Deere (Sylvia Piechatzek, Corporate Counsel)
• On (Anna Jakobsson, Director of Intellectual Property)
• Philips (Edanela Perez Broce, Senior IP Counsel)
• Mars (Bence Bozóki, Senior IP Counsel)
• Zurich Insurance (Dorine Martin, Head of Group Intellectual Property)

The two-hour session was moderated by Paul Trapman of Ploum and Anja Franke of Grünecker PartG mbB, who organised the training together with Mai-Britt Kroll, Senior Global Brand Protection Manager at Coty.

The speakers also had the opportunity to respond to a range of interesting questions from the student audience, covering both practical enforcement issues and possible career paths in IP.

Among other topics, the discussion touched on how to distinguish counterfeit products from parallel imports or grey market goods, when similar branding or packaging may cross the line into trade mark infringement, and whether a law degree is necessary to work as in-house counsel or in legal and brand protection roles.

The Lisbon event was part of the MARQUES training series held alongside the Annual Conference, offering students the opportunity to engage directly with experienced IP and brand protection professionals.

Photos provided by Anja Franke