RAISING MY VOICE AND CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO ANNSLEY WARD

RAISING MY VOICE AND CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO

BY ANNSLEY WARD (01-02)

I did not want to be a lawyer. Returning to the US after my time at RGS in 2002 at the age of 16, I started studying chemical engineering at the University of New Mexico with the aim of then going to med school in New York to become a surgeon.

But at that time in the early noughties, something else was going on that diverted my intended path. When we were children, my parents indoctrinated my sister and me into the music of their Northern California youth – Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, the Stones. Music was an essential part of our family life, with our subscription to Rolling Stone’s being pawed over every month. In the early-2000s, with rise of the internet, file-sharing services like Napster and LimeWire were increasingly popular and in demand as consumers wanted immediate access to digital music (yes, there was a time before iTunes and Spotify). These services, however, infringed copyright. The music industry’s response was to sue those who were providing and using such services; not to create a business supply to the demand from which they could profit. Rolling Stone’s reports of the pending litigation fascinated me. With that spark and the growing realization that I didn’t want to learn, study or be just one thing for the rest of my life, my mother suggested I go to law school, instead of med school, and become an intellectual property (IP) lawyer.

I never had any interest in becoming a lawyer. Indeed, it was at the bottom of my list. However, I saw that IP would afford me a career that meant I could continue learning about issues in science and medicine and in the arts. I could become a mini expert on various ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’ topics and continue learning. And, sure enough, after a law degree and Master of Laws at the University of Bristol and UCL, respectively, I embarked on my career in IP in London. In 14 years, I have acted for clients in cases relating to molecular diagnostics, mobile technology, COPD, pain medication, arthritis and blood pressure medicines, algorithmic trading, MRI/radiotherapy devices, fashion and jewellery design, museum exhibitions and musical performances from first instance, to the UK Supreme Court and CJEU. My work takes me across the world –from Korea, Australia, the US, Brazil and across Europe learning about people’s inventions, creations and different court systems. I have now returned a bit to my US roots, by joining the London office of the US firm Wilmer, Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP as Counsel.

The field of IP litigation where I now spend most of my time, patent litigation and, in particular, telecommunications patent litigation (think mobile phone wars), is a highly male dominated field. There is still no woman specialized Patents Court Judge (and has never been one) and often, I am the only woman in meetings and in the Court room. Being one of the first girls at RGS prepared me for ‘being the odd one out’ in a room full of men (history lessons with Dr Mains being a particular example), but equipped me with the ability not to be afraid to raise my voice, contribute and challenge. It also gave me invaluable insight in how men communicate and interact with each other and the world, which has been useful in how I interact and communicate in an environment where I am usually one of the few women. Importantly, my time at RGS has meant that I value the collegiately and support of my colleagues – men and women – and want to ensure that I leave the legal profession in a better state which affords equal access to opportunity to all. It is with this goal, that I have become deeply involved in creating and championing initiatives that can improve diversity, inclusion and opportunity for women in STEM, law and policy though my work as the Chair of the UK and Europe chapters of the ChIPs Network (an industry-led network founded by the Chiefs of IP at companies like Google, Apple, eBay). In this role, I connect women (and the men who support them) together to push initiatives which encourage the promotion of women to the senior ranks of the profession, provide more opportunities for junior advocates to get on their feet in Court earlier and encourage more girls and women to enter STEM subjects.

Although the path took me somewhere I didn’t think to expect when I left RGS, the foundation was already there to steer me to where I am now. My time at RGS gave me the confidence to tackle challenges, to walk into rooms that could be intimidating and raise my voice and to challenge the status quo to benefit everyone. I would not have changed one moment of it.