Amanda McDowall

Amanda is a Senior Associate in CMS' IP department.  She is a dual-qualified (US/England & Wales) lawyer and a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney.  She has substantial experience of an extensive range of contentious and non-contentious soft IP-focused matters. Her experience spans varied sectors including technology, media & communication, telecoms, fintech, life sciences, FMCG, fashion and the charitable sector. Client-focused and commercially practical, she enables clients, from fintech start-ups to multinational media corporations, to realise and protect the value of their IP assets.

Her experience includes:

•     Advising multinational corporations on all aspects of global IP portfolio management, from clearance and protection strategies, through to international opposition, invalidity and revocation matters and multi-jurisdiction litigation.
•     IP litigation and disputes, with significant experience at the EU and UK trade mark tribunals, courts (including the General Court and CJEU) and managing international litigation; these are frequently at the cutting edge of the legal landscape.
•     Assisting clients with customs seizures, counterfeiting and parallel import issues.
•     Negotiating and concluding commercially appropriate international settlement agreements.
•     Advising on and negotiating international IP-focused agreements and transactions, including complex re-structuring and corporate transfer agreements, brand assignment and licensing agreements; co-branding, joint venture, sponsorship and franchising agreements.
•     Achieving protection of non-traditional trade marks.
•     Devising and implementing country entry and brand extension strategies.
•     Domain management, disputes and strategy (including ICANN and Nominet disputes).
•     Successfully representing clients at the Company Names Tribunal.
•     Advising on advertising issues, including pre-clearance advice and ASA complaints.