Jacob Watfa

Background

Jacob joined the Munich office of Dehns in April 2016 following the completion of a MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London with a Year Abroad at the University of Sydney.

Jacob qualified as a UK and European Patent Attorney in 2021 and became an Associate of the firm in 2022.

In 2023, he completed a Master of Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM, Master (II), equivalent LLM) at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies, University of Strasbourg, gaining further theoretical and practical skills in the wider field of IP strategy and management, particularly in value creation and profit generation based on innovation management.

Type of clients and client work

Jacob works with all kinds of clients, from large, multinational corporations, through SMEs to lone inventors. Jacob mostly works with European and UK patent applications, whether that be drafting new applications, prosecuting existing applications to grant, or in post grant proceedings such as oppositions. Jacob has experience in working with associates across the globe to ensure that his clients can obtain the best possible protection in all jurisdictions.

Jacob also has provided advice on wider issues such as freedom-to-operate assessments and patent landscaping.

Expertise

Jacob works with a wide variety of engineering patents from the medicine to aerospace industries, and also has experience in the fields of computer systems, software, electronics and artificial intelligence.

Qualifications and Memberships

• Authorised Representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) (2023)
• Master of Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM, equivalent LLM), 2023 (Center for International Intellectual Property Studies)
• UK Patent Attorney, 2021
• European Patent Attorney, 2021

• Intellectual Property Law Post-Graduate Certificate, 2016 (Queen Mary University of London)
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys

Higher Education

MEng Mechanical Engineering with a Year Abroad, Imperial College London, 2011