Laëtitia Bénard is a partner in the intellectual property and litigation department of Allen & Overy LLP in Paris, where she leads the IP practice and is co-head of the life sciences group. She has a wealth of experience in all IP areas, in particular trademarks, designs and unfair competition, both contentious and non-contentious.

She has acted in numerous trademark disputes and has been involved in several high-profile trademark litigations leading to landmark decisions. One such case dealt with the interplay of advertising law and trademark law and, for the first time in Europe, raised the issue of whether generic companies are allowed to use an original medicinal product’s trademark.

Her expertise on related matters (eg, customs regulations, internet law and EU law) makes her particularly well placed to define and implement anti-counterfeiting strategies on both a national and an international basis.

She also assists clients in drafting and reviewing various types of complex trademark agreement, and provides strategic advice on the management and exploitation of their trademark portfolios.

Ms Bénard is the author of several chapters in the books Competition, Public Health, Innovation and Drugs and Generic Drugs and IP Law. More recently, she co-authored the articles “The Judgement DHL/Chronopost of the CJEU of 12 April 2011: A Community Injunction may be Obtained Insofar as the Functions of the Trade Mark are Affected” (Lamy Droit de l’Immatériel, 2011) and “Trade Secrets Protection: A Comparative Overview” (Handbook of European IP Management, 2012).

According to World Trademark Review, Ms Bénard “consistently exhibits ‘outstanding leadership, knowledge, responsiveness and forward thinking on the most difficult matters’” (WTR 1000, 2012). “An exceptional and tenacious advocate”, she will “persevere to achieve clients’ goals” (WTR 1000, 2011).