Intellectual property firm Secerna has added two new trainee patent attorneys to its team in York, bolstering its bioscience, physics and electronics expertise.
Daniel Pingstone and Thomas Kennelly have joined Secerna to support a growing client base of multinational corporations, FTSE- and NYSE-listed companies, universities, spin-out companies, small businesses and innovators.
Pingstone completed a master’s degree in physics and a nanotechnology PhD, both at the University of York.
His PhD project focus on using electron microscopy to research structures for power electronic and spintronic applications. Secerna said this knowledge can be readily transferred to his role at the firm, where he will be working in the advanced engineering, electronics and information technology sectors.
Kennelly has joined the Secerna team with a biophysics PhD, a master’s degree in physics—both from the University of Sheffield—and experience from the National Institute for Health Research.
“I knew that I wanted to move out of academia into industry, to a role that would enable me to take my technical knowledge and experience in a different direction to academic science,” Kennelly said. “Intellectual property law allows me to do exactly that.”
Kennelly explained that Secerna’s appeal lay in the firm’s size and reputation: “I saw a lot of scope to work at a relatively small firm with such a highly respected team. There are opportunities to do much more than I could at other larger firms, and I’m really enjoying the range of work and the clients I am working with.”
Pingstone added: “Initially it was the diversity of the role that attracted me to the firm, and the fact that there is so much opportunity to learn from some of the best patent attorneys in their field. Meeting clients, seeing their passion for innovation and gaining a detailed understanding of new inventions so that I can be involved in drafting patent specifications is hugely challenging, and also very exciting.”
Secerna partner Charlotte Watkins commented on the firm’s new arrivals: “We are very happy to welcome trainees of Thomas and Daniel’s calibre to our team. They each bring a wealth of technical knowledge that is already proving incredibly valuable to our work with clients across the UK and beyond.”
“The firm is experiencing significant and continued growth, and we are keen to attract and provide clear development paths for talented young science and technology graduates who, like Thomas and Daniel, are looking for an alternative to a career in academia.”
Pictured, from left to right: Daniel Pingstone, Secerna partners Charlotte Watkins and Jason Boakes, and Thomas Kennelly
