IPAN Board of Directors
The business of IPAN is managed by directors appointed by the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). One third of the directors retire by rotation at the AGM but are eligible for re-election. The directors meet as the Board of Directors usually before regular IPAN meetings.
John P Ogier
Chairman and Convenor of the Finance, Business and Economics Group
John is an independent Intellectual Property Economist with a particular interest in realising the value of IP in business, financial services and the economy. In addition to chairing IPAN, he continues to act as convenor of its Finance, Business and Economics Group. From 2006 to early 2014, he served as Registrar of Intellectual Property in the Bailiwick of Guernsey where he established its Intellectual Property Office. This included the development of IP legislation, international agreements and policy advice alongside the administration of the Office decisions. During his time as Registrar he also established Guernsey’s on-line Company Registry and served as Deputy Public Trustee. He had previously worked as the Commerce and Employment’s economic and strategic adviser.
John continues to convene the Finance, Business and Economics Group and was appointed as a director of IPAN in 2011.
Janice Denoncourt
Director and Member of the Education Group, and the Business & Finance Group
Janice is Associate Professor Dr (Teaching & Research) at Nottingham Trent University, where she researches in the interdisciplinary field of IP, finance and corporate governance law, broadly conceived. She holds the degrees of BA (McGill), LLB (Western Australia), LLM (Murdoch), LLM (Bournemouth) and PhD (Nottingham). Amongst her other qualifications, she is a Solicitor (non-practising) in England & Wales, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
She published her research monograph IP, Finance and Corporate Governance in April 2018 with Routledge and she has made IP related submissions eliciting regulatory interest from UK Financial Reporting Council, International Accounting Standards Board, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, US Securities Exchange Commission and the UK Law Reform Commission. Janice believes IP rights law is still siloed within the law discipline and wishes to raise awareness of how IPRs support the creative economy, innovation and business.
She was appointed as a director of IPAN in 2020.
Bola Olabisi
Director
Dr Bola Olabisi is the founder and Chairwoman of GWIIN, a UK based organisation set up in 1998 mainly to research, develop and encourage the growth and emergence of women entrepreneurship amongst inventors and innovators. GWIIN connects with women from across the globe with a special focus on creative, inventive, innovative skills and abilities.
GWIIN works in partnership with The Accelerator (part of London Metropolitan University) in the delivery of knowledge transfer concepts. GWIIN holds regular Conferences, Exhibition and Award ceremonies and other events annually and bi-annually in the UK, Europe and across the globe, to recognise and celebrate the IP rights of the women who have created, invented or brought about innovation through novel products and unique services.
Bola was appointed as an IPAN Director in 2022.
Ruth Soetendorp
Director and Convenor of the Education Group
Ruth is a Professor Emerita at Bournemouth University where she is Associate Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management. She is a world-renowned authority on IP education and is HEA National Teaching Fellow and Visiting Academic at the Bayes (formerly Cass) Business School, City – University of London. She is currently the first IP Visiting Professor for the University of the Arts London. She is a passionate champion for extending teaching about IP and its socio-economic value across higher education syllabuses. She has supported IPAN and its activities from its early years, as leader of its Education Group and as a director and former Chair of the Board. She was appointed an honorary member of IPAN in November 2018.
Ruth was appointed for a second term as a director of IPAN in 2019.
Ian Wishart TD
Director
Ian is an experienced Chartered Patent Attorney and European Trade Mark Attorney, and has himself been named as an inventor in a number of patents. He was in-house Director of IP and Licensing at the FTSE 100 company, Johnson Matthey PLC, for over 20 years, where he led a team of nine IP lawyers. He is now a director of Sybaris Legal & IP, an independent London Market and Lloyd’s broking intermediary providing specialist IP litigation and intangible assets insurance solutions. He also served in a specialist role as a major in the Reserve Forces. Within IPAN he has responsibilities for financial matters.
Ian was appointed as a director of IPAN in 2016.
Nigel H Worth
Director and Convenor of the Parliamentary Group
Nigel is also now Chairman of the Institute of International Licensing Practitioners (IILP). He is a lawyer and has been an IP consultant for over 25 years within the field of licensing. He is currently practising through his company, Innovation Support Services Limited, which has developed expertise in the exploitation of IP rich business in world-class technologies throughout numerous industries. He is committed to IPAN’s many admirable and emerging IP related briefs in Education, Finance, Ethics and much more. He is a vigorous supporter of the WIPO mission and its laudable ambitions.
Nigel was appointed as an IPAN Director in 2014.