< Back to latest news & events

Event

Retaining Women In Law – London

May 2019

Event date: 2nd May 2019

HGF Solicitor Maherunesa Khandaker will be a panellist at the ‘Retaining Women In Law’ ChIPs event in London May 2, 2019.

The issue of retaining women hits us at all levels and all fields. Girls studying sciences past GCSEs (about 20% in engineering, technology and computer science) is mirrored by the number of women in STEM industries (21%). The numbers are only slightly better in government (29% elected MPs) and the judiciary (28%) and law firm partnerships (29%).

A recent study reported there 45,782 fee-earners in law firms in the UK. 50.6% of these are women. At Partner level this figure drops to 29.0%. Some US surveys indicate that only 25% of IP lawyers are women. But if only 4,515 of the 15,569 people leading private practice are women, that begs the question – where did all the women go?

Maherunesa Khandaker will be joining the panel to discuss how private practice in the UK can deliver real change in retaining women in law and closing the Partner gap.

Latest updates

A New Era for AI Patents in the UK: Supreme Court Aligns with the EPO

The UK Supreme Court has handed down its long-awaited judgment in Emotional Perception AI Limited (EPAI) vs Comptroller General of Patents, a decision which serves to significantly change the way …

Read article

The Antibody Series #5 | Epitope-defined antibody claims: when “binds to this epitope” becomes a risk of insufficiency

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews decisions made at the EPO; here, they reviewed an appeal in opposition proceedings after the revocation …

Read article

The Deity Shoes case: a question of design activity and the constraints on a designer’s freedom

The footwear brand Deity Shoes sought to enforce their Community Design rights, both registered and unregistered, against Mundorama Confort and Stay Design. However, Mundorama Confort and Stay Design found fault …

Read article

The Antibody Series #4 | pH points in antibody claims: when “same pH ” becomes an addition of matter

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews EPO decisions; in this case, they reviewed a revocation in opposition of a patent relating to …

Read article

The Antibody Series #3 | Antibody code names in claims: why “ACZ885” is not sufficient to define the antibody

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews EPO decisions. In this case, they examined a claim that identified an antibody by an internal …

Read article
Event - 3rd February 2026

HGF Brand & Design Conference 2026

Join us on 3rd February 2026 for HGF’s Brand & Design Conference, the must attend event for in-house legal teams, brand leaders, creatives, and innovators shaping the future of IP. …

Event details

Office Closed Dates December 2025 / January 2026

HGF Office Closed Dates December 2025 / January 2026   UK Thursday 25 and Friday 26 December 2025 CLOSED Thursday 1 January 2026* CLOSED * Friday 2 January 2026 – …

Read article
Event - 14th January 2026

Seminar on The aftermath of G1/24 - has anything changed?

HGF is hosting a The aftermath of G1/24 – has anything changed? Which will be followed by networking, apero, and snacks. The Seminar will be held on Wednesday, 14th January …

Event details