Zacco announces five new Senior Partners

16 December 2021

We are pleased to announce five promotions to the position of Senior Partner at Zacco.

We are proud to announce the promotion of Paul Winblad, Anders Hjelmencrantz, Niels Abrahamsen, Thomas Sundien,and Michael Schandorf Sørensen to the position of Senior Partner at Zacco.

 

A Senior Partner promotion is a significant achievement in any area of the legal profession and recognises many of the professional attributes that we believe are integral to our success here at Zacco. We are known for our commitment to quality, integrity and excellence, and all internal promotions are reflective of our colleague’s principles in upholding these responsibilities, as part of their conduct, their performance and their accomplishments.

 

These promotions recognise an individual’s dedication to developing the business in line with our goals and values and the impact they made is felt throughout the organisation. They have earned the trust and respect of our colleagues, as well as our clients, and their expertise has been widely recognised within the Intellectual Property industry. The talents, skills and capability that they have shown in their professional success, in what is considered a competitive profession, is nothing short of exemplary. Congratulations to all of our new Senior Partners and thank you for being a part of Zacco.

 

Our new Senior Partners:

 

Paul Winblad

Paul started his career as an examiner at the Swedish Patent Office before moving in-house with one of the world’s leading consumer goods suppliers in both Paper and forest products, eventually becoming Patent Director for the global departments. Throughout his time in-house and since joining Zacco in 2015, Paul has continued to develop his expertise to cover a range of emerging technologies

 

Paul is considered an IP Strategy expert by clients and colleagues and is known for guiding his clients through the successful building and management of their global portfolios, helping with the negotiation of licensing and other IP agreements as well as general prosecution, enforcement and litigation work.

 

During his time in-house, Paul was involved in Research and Product Development management, giving him an expert eye on the practical applications and commercial viability of client’s ideas and innovations. It also provided him with a detailed understanding of how IP Rights are viewed, used and leveraged throughout a global organisation.

 

Paul’s reputation within both IP and the private sector is recognised globally. Recently he was recognised as one of the top Patent professionals in the world by IAM Magazine, as one of their IAM Patent 1000.

 

Paul is a member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Institute. His expertise extends into a range of technical fields including material, production and automotive technologies. His commitment to clients, his talent as an IP Strategist and his extensive knowledge all form a part of Paul’s contribution to Zacco’s ongoing success.

 

Anders Hjelmencrantz

Anders’ patent practice extends over a wide range of both traditional and emerging technologies within the areas of life science including general/organic and medicinal chemistry, environmental chemistry, green tech/clean tech, functional foods (human and animal), nutraceutical and pharmaceutical formulations, diagnostics, cell biology, immunology, cancer research and stem cells.

 

His international exposure, academic prowess and technical expertise have seen him certified as a Danish Patent Agent, a European Patent Attorney, in patent litigation in Europe, and with his LL.M in IP law and management. An innovative chemist with a passion for scientific development, he started his career as a research scientist within BioTech before moving in to patent work in 2008.

 

Anders’ expertise are consistently acknowledged by his clients, who often view him as a partner in their IP portfolio development. His attention to detail and ability to focus his client’s patent strategy into their company business model has been well recognised within the industry.  Besides drafting and prosecuting patent applications, Anders has experience with FTO analyses, patentability analysis, competition overview, prosecution of patent applications and communication with PTOs/foreign agents, filing and prosecuting oppositions and appeals. He also assists in licensing negotiations between clients and third parties as well as prosecutions and filings of Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs).

 

Anders is co-inventor on several international patent applications and his commercial insight and technical understanding has contributed to his standing as a capable advisor on IP Strategy and implementation, which stands in line with his reputation within Zacco.

 

Niels Abrahamsen

Niels Abrahamsen is Manager of the Life Science and Chemistry Patent Team with over 20 years of experience working within the IP field, preceded by 10 years as a scientist.

 

It was his time as a scientist that led Niels to his successful career in IP, first practicing within the pharmaceutical field before joining Zacco in 2012. Due to his technical expertise and insight, he quickly became a manager for the Life Science and Chemistry Team, which itself consists of a number of other Senior Partners and two IAM Global Leaders. He readily acknowledges that it is the strength of this team that continues to play a major part in Zacco’s success within the Life Sciences field.

 

Niels’ extensive experience covers a wide range of fields within the patent industry but his focus is primarily within Pharmaceuticals and BioTech. He is today working with team management and key account management of both domestic and large International clients but he is also driven by a strong desire to promote IP awareness to small startups, and regularly advises them on funding and partnership preparation. In that spirit, his passion  and dedication has helped to establish Zacco as an attractive partner for young Life Sciences companies to which he provides advice on IPR strategy development and implementation, FTO, patent drafting and prosecution, partnership agreements, due diligence and strategic patent lifecycles

 

For the past three years, Niels has regularly contributed his time to the advancement of innovation through his pro bono work supporting young companies at a leading technical institute in Copenhagen. Advising on all manner of IP matters, he helps start-ups to understand the nature of patents and IP strategy in protecting their ideas, as well as discussing FTO or Landscape analyses and partnership agreements. He also contributes his time within an innovation hub where he discusses IP and offers strategic advice.

 

His technical experience is within molecular biology, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals and human disease and Niels has published 10 scientific papers, and is co-inventor on two patents. As a trusted colleague, he is always ready to share his knowledge and insight with others throughout Zacco, and his practical approach is reflective of his significant ability. It is this insight and understanding that has become a successful formula for multiple clients, who continue to ask for his counsel and strategic advice over many years.

 

Thomas Sundien

Thomas is an acting technical judge for IP matters at the Copenhagen Commercial & Maritime Court and at Denmark’s Eastern Appeal Court. Starting his career in 1988, his expertise cover European and US patent prosecution matters, as well as in utility model and design registration cases. He has gained significant experience in prosecuting cases before the EPO opposition and appeal boards and is also regularly involved in patent infringement litigation and in patent licensing matters.

 

Thomas is passionate about the advancement of the IP profession and regularly contributes his time to guiding students within some of Denmark’s leading Higher Education Institutes. Acting as an IP mentor and ‘sounding board’, he helps them to recognise patent potential and identify commercial viability within their ideas, as well as running regular Q&As into both patent implications and the application process. He also makes use of his experience and background to help them overcome technical challenges whenever he can.

 

Thomas has specialist technical knowledge within the fields of oil drilling technology, packaging, conveying systems, medical devices, agricultural implements, shipbuilding, household equipment and building materials. During his illustrious career, he has represented numerous prestigious international clients and has regularly ranked as an IP Star by Managing IP and is considered one of the top Patent professionals in the world by IAM Magazine, as one of their IAM Patent 1000.

 

Thomas is often seen by his clients as a partner to their business. He takes the time to help them explore and understand the implications of their intellectual property, ensuring that they only pursue rights that serve a purpose in growing their business or advancing their organisational objectives. His knowledge and opinion is respected amongst his colleagues at Zacco, and his extensive experience across a range of topics, his practical insight and his commercial mindset have made him a top choice for many of our clients.

 

Michael Schandorf Sørensen

Before entering IP Consultancy, Michael worked as a senior scientist in the biotech industry for around a decade, predominantly in the field of target discovery and validation.

 

Michael has a solid scientific knowledge with a wide range of traditional and emerging technical disciplines including gene transfer, vector technology and virology among others. His technical expertise is within the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, epigenetics and cell biology but he has also established himself as a capable and dedicated IP strategist in areas outside of the sciences.

 

Michael advises clients on the strategic use of their IP as well as how to identify and leverage commercial value and is regularly recognised internationally, including most recently as one of the top Patent professionals in the world by IAM, as one of their IAM Patent 1000. He has provided litigation support in pharma litigation cases across multiple Scandinavian countries and acts as a court-appointed expert in Danish patent cases. He remains on the list of experts and we believe that this demonstrates his belief in the ongoing development and improvement of intellectual property as well as support in the advancement of innovation, both on behalf of his clients and beyond.

 

 

We hope you will join us in congratulating our new senior partners on this significant accomplishment and for pushing the boundaries on what IP can accomplish.

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