Iona Silverman

Iona has significant experience in drafting both internal and third party brand licences for consumer goods clients. She really enjoys getting to know a brand and ensuring that the agreement reflects the core values of the brand as well as giving the client maximum brand protection.

Iona has advised on a number of acquisitions of start-ups or “acquihire”. She has experience in conducting due diligence and negotiating warranties relating to all aspects of IP ownership, including software created by employees and third party consultants as well as the use of open source software.

Iona frequently advises on joint-development agreements, helping her clients understand and protect the rights they have in their IP as well as negotiate the ownership and management of any IP created as part of the project.

Iona enjoys advising on digitisation projects where clients are required to quickly get to grips with a new digitised version of their business. The intellectual property implications are complex. Iona helps clients understand the IP rights in software and also advises on the ownership and management of jointly developed IP rights.

Recent Work

Iona has recently advised:

• A global FMCG client on the trade mark licensing implications of an major re-organisation
• A Japanese multinational conglomerate company on its USD 11 billion energy joint venture with a Swiss engineering group. The deal was driven in large part by the technology and IP that underpinned the JV offering, meaning IP was a central part of the negotiations.
• On the licensing of know-how to enable the immediate development and manufacture of ventilators.
• A publisher on the sale of its children’s book business including a number of classic titles.
• An American global investment company on its USD 4.3 billion buy-out of a multinational cosmetics and beauty company.
• A global life sciences company on all IP aspects of a number of disposals in various jurisdictions.

Brand licences:

• Drafting internal brand licences for a major FMCG company further to an internal restructure.
• Reviewing brand and character licences in the context of the disposal of a publishing client’s children’s books business.

Acquihire:

• Advising a major technology company on the acquisition of a start-up specialising in chat-bot technology.
• Advising a multinational professional services company on its journey towards digitisation, including the acquisition of a number of technology start-ups.

Joint development agreements:

• Drafting a joint development agreement for a mining company relating to development of new technology used in the mining process.
• Advising on the licensing of know-how to enable the immediate development and manufacture of ventilators.

Digitisation:

• Advising a multinational professional services company on its journey towards digitisation, including the acquisition of a number of technology start-ups.