Hélène Le Blanc is a consultant and writer specialised in luxury branding and digital media strategy.

After several years of practicing law as a litigation attorney in Canada, she joined Apple as a senior attorney based in Apple’s European headquarters where she advised the marketing teams on a wide range of marketing, communication and digital issues.

She left law to pursue a dual passion for luxury and digital media. Since then, she has advised luxury brands on brand building and digital media strategy including content creation across multiple digital, print and social media platforms. Hélène is a frequent conference speaker and lecturer.

She has written extensively on luxury for various digital and print publications. She also authors a well-regarded blog entitled The Luxe Chronicles which explores issues pertaining to the changing nature of the luxury industry. It is written from the perspective of a consumer of luxury goods and services, a voice frequently missing from the conversation on luxury.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in Montreal as well as degrees in Common Law and Civil Law from McGill Law School. Hélène has lived in New York City, London and is currently based in Paris.

After turning around Pringle of Scotland and Aquascutum, Kim Winser went on to advise the private equity firm 3i on retail brands. She is known throughout the sector for her ability to modernise and restructure businesses without losing any of their essential qualities.

Kim started her career at Marks and Spencer. In time she became the only female director, in charge of womenswear, before moving from the high street chain to take over the reins at Pringle and then Aquascutum.

After Aquascutum, Kim took over as Chair of Agent Provocateur, overseeing the luxury lingerie brand’s expansion into new markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Kim’s expertise in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets has also led to a number of advisory roles for European retailers expanding into the likes of China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

Kim Winser has received an OBE for services to the fashion industry. In February 2013, Kim launched Winser London, a new fashion brand.

Dr. Beconcini specializes in international and Chinese intellectual property and product liability. Having resided in China since 2001, he advises and counsels German and multinational firms in intellectual property matters such as patent and trademark portfolio structuring, patent prosecution, IPR and technology transfer and licensing, IP due diligence in M&A, patent litigation and brand protection.

He has successfully assisted foreign clients in several patent infringement lawsuits in China, including German MAN Group in the landmark design patent infringement lawsuit Neoplan v. Zonda, which has been designated IP case of the year 2009 by several international intellectual property journals.

He leads a team of managers and investigators in anticounterfeiting investigations and raids for spare-parts in the automotive and mechanic as well as in the fashion industry in China. He advises international clients on product liability litigation in China, as well as on product liability prevention and management, including recall planning in the automotive sector.

He has handled more than fifty product liability cases in 2012 in different Chinese jurisdictions for European consumer product manufacturers, including several lawsuits, successfully concluding most of them.

Jeremy is head of the commercial group at Macfarlanes LLP, specialising in commercial contracts and intellectual property.

His core practice is centred on providing the firm’s corporate and entrepreneur clients with advice on their operational contracts and arrangements and in particular joint ventures, franchising and outsourcing arrangements.

Jeremy has particular experience in acting for clients for whom intellectual property (whether brand or technology based) is a key asset and heads the firm’s recognised leading luxury brands practice. He also leads the firm’s Formula One practice.

Loke-Khoon Tan is a partner and head of Baker & McKenzie‘s Intellectual Property Practice Group in Hong Kong and China. He is a member of the Firm’s IP Global Steering Committee and heads the Asia Pacific Region IP Group. He also co-leads the Firm’s Luxury and Fashion Industry Practice and works extensively with global brands in this field in several jurisdictions.

He is ranked among the leading lawyers for intellectual property by Chambers Asia Pacific, Chambers Global, PLC Which lawyer? and Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Mr Tan’s practice focuses specially on intellectual property law in the People’s Republic of China, with particular emphasis on the structuring of intellectual property rights and anti-counterfeiting planning in the area of trademarks, patents, copyright and trade names, amongst others.

With the new economy, his practice also encompasses domain name, Internet, social media and technology laws. Mr Tan holds positions in various industry bodies, including serving as chairman of the MARQUES China team and sitting on the anti-counterfeiting committee of the Hong Kong group of the Asian Patent Attorney’s Association.

Fabrizio Jacobacci is the senior founding partner of Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati. He specializes in competition and intellectual property law, both in contentious and non-contentious matters, and has significant expertise in arbitration. He has acquired an international reputation for his handling of various complex patent and trademark disputes.

Over the past five years, Fabrizio has been consistently ranked amongst the top Italian intellectual property lawyers by legal professional magazines such as Legal500 and Chambers & Partners and was ranked in the top 15 trademark lawyers worldwide by the Who’s Who Legal 2008 edition.

The Chambers Europe 2012 edition describes him as “an impressive litigator, proactive and incredibly effective”. Fabrizio is a frequent speaker at international conferences on intellectual property matters, including those organized by the Intellectual Property Section of the New York State Bar Association, the International Trademark Association, the International Bar Association and Marques.

He is a lecturer at the WIPO post-graduate specialization course on intellectual property and a member of the editorial board of the “European Trademark Reports” published by Sweet & Maxwell.

Mary-Ellen read BA Dip (Art) Ed from Alexander Mackie College, NSW, Australia. She is a Certified Licensing Professional. At Brand Finance, Mary-Ellen is Chairman focusing on licensing, sponsorship and royalty rate related issues.

She has carried out numerous projects involving licensing and royalty rate analysis across a variety of sectors including; food and beverages, fashion and luxury brands, petrochemicals and consumer goods. With 25 years blue chip experience in intellectual property management, protection and exploitation, Mary-Ellen is an expert witness in numerous high profile trade mark disputes and is a recognised international royalty rate expert.

Prior to joining Brand Finance, Mary-Ellen was the Head of Intellectual Property and Director of Chiltern plc’s wealth management group. She was responsible for both the negotiation of the global lingerie license for Elle Macpherson Intimates and the launching the Elle Macpherson Body Products in Boots in the UK in 2005. During which, she also worked with numerous celebrities on the exploitation of their rights through licensing and endorsements.