Ellen Breddam

Ellen is an experienced Trademark and Design Attorney with a demonstrated history of working in the legal services industry for 20+ years. She heads Plougmann Vingtoft’s trademark team and was made partner in 2018.

She provides strategic advice to clients on intellectual property rights, primarily trademarks, designs, and domain names. Further, she has special experience with trademarks within the wine industry, the enzyme and probiotic industry, the advanced production equipment and machines industry, and the IT and consulting industries.

Prior to joining Plougmann Vingtoft, Ms Breddam worked at another major IP consultancy from 2005 to 2012. Previously, she worked for the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, first as a Legal Examiner and later as the head of a section where her main working area was development of legal practices in relation to trademarks and designs.

Ms Breddam is currently an Assistant Professor at Copenhagen Business School where she teaches IP Law. She has former been an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at University of Copenhagen.

Ms Breddam is responsible for the Danish contribution to the “Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol Practice Guide” published by INTA, of which she is a member.

Likewise, she is also a member of ECTA, the Association of Danish Intellectual Property Attorneys, FIR and MARQUES.

In addition to Danish and English, she speaks French.

Plougmann Vingtoft is an award-winning IP consultancy that specialises in handling, protecting and commercialising IP rights.

The firm has a large team of dedicated employees working out of its headquarters in Hellerup, near Copenhagen, and additional offices in Aarhus and Oslo.

Further, the firm has a comprehensive network of business partners and agents around the globe, which enables the firm to provide services for clients in any part of the world, both directly and through international agents.

Full-service IP consultancy

Plougmann Vingtoft is a full-service IP consultancy. The firm employs some of the best patent, trademark and design attorneys, as well as a well-educated team of paralegals to support attorneys and handle all IP administration, which ensures a cost-efficient, well-operated and highly professional service to all clients.

Besides well-known IP services, Plougmann Vingtoft has an in-house commercialization and tech-transfer team, which is marketed under a separate brand “tto” (www.tto.eu). Tto specializes in generating value from new technologies in combination with IPR. The tto experts assist clients facing challenges in a transition phase from early stage development to commercialisation or exit.

Trademark expertise

Plougmann Vingtoft provides high-quality trademark drafting and prosecution, including searches and analyses, preparation of strategies and evaluations.

Further, the firm’s trademark professionals are INTA committee members, which enables them to contribute to the positive development of INTA’s strategic objectives. They are working to promote better and more transparent rules for trademarks professionals around the world, which benefits clients as well as business partners.

Recognition and awards 

For more than a decade, several leading IP and legal guides have recognised Plougmann Vingtoft as one of Denmark’s top IP firms. In 2022, the firm received a “Firm of the Year” award from Managing Intellectual Property.

IAM Patent 1000 writes: “The full-service consultancy offers a very meaningful service to its patrons: it is home to some of the best and brightest trademark attorneys, has its own in-house commercialisation and tech-transfer unit, which specialises in generating value from new technologies, and also has the wherewithal to fight infringement fires as and when they come up.”

WTR 1000 recently cited a client: “The experts at Plougmann Vingtoft kept us updated every step of the way and made what would have been a daunting, if not impossible, task for us to handle ourselves an easy process.”

Social responsibility

Since 2008, Plougmann Vingtoft has taken part in the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, a voluntary initiative based on a commitment to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support the UN global goals.

Consequently, Plougmann Vingtoft focuses on implementing socially responsible business practices in its interaction with clients, employees and communities.

First, the firm works with industry leaders within the fields of renewable energy, new technologies, pharma and healthcare.

Second, the firm assists small and medium-sized enterprises and universities in pursuing potentially groundbreaking ideas. Plougmann Vingtoft makes sure that innovative thinking pays off.

Third, the firm is committed to helping start-ups to make a success of their sustainable ideas. Every year, Plougmann Vingtoft donates expert consulting worth of DKK 50,000 to a start-up with a solution that impacts one or several of the UN global goals directly. This initiative is marketed under the name IP Matters.

Professional association memberships

• Association of Danish Intellectual Property Attorneys
• European Communities Trademarks Association
• Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office
• International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property
• International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys
• International Trademark Association
• Licensing Executives Society
• MARQUES

History

Plougmann Vingtoft was founded in 1967 by Knud Erik Vingtoft and Ole Plougmann. 

Mr Plougmann was a chemical engineer with plans to revolutionise the patent world; Mr Vingtoft was a mechanical engineer whose attention was caught by the patent industry in 1959. Together they created a firm that has, ever since, influenced the way people approach IP rights. The two engineers’ pioneer work within biotechnology and information technology led to strong IP positions for their clients and made the name, Plougmann Vingtoft, well known in the business.

In addition, the two founders’ interest in the commercialisation of research results made the firm one of the main players in building collaborations between private companies, universities and scientists in Denmark, as well as internationally.