AZRIGHTS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Head of the Azrights Patent
Michael Harrison is head of the Azrights Patent department, and has a doctorate in chemistry from Oxford University and is a European (and Chartered) Patent and Trademark Attorney with over 35 years experience in Intellectual Property. He has worked in several leading IP practices including Boult Wade Tennant, Urquhart Dykes & Lord, DLA Solicitors and Harrison Goddard Foote. His fields of interest embrace patents (including mechanical and chemical), trademarks and registered designs. He manages the IP of a significant international company and advises that company and others on IP strategy. He believes that while patents may often be seen by inventors and businessmen as mysterious, this is mainly due to the jargon involved. The job of the patent attorney is to translate the complex language in which patents are framed into simpler every day language. Also the complex array of choices available at different stages of UK and foreign patent applications should be presented in a manner that the client can understand well enough to make informed commercial decisions. These decisions can have a major impact on the success or failure of the business. Michael is a Past President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
Nick qualified as a solicitor in 2004, and has 13 years' experience in advising businesses on a wide range of commercial contracts and corporate transactions. Nick works as a consultant at Azrights.
Nick spent 10 years in the corporate team of a law firm advising companies on IP licences, investment agreements, shareholder agreements, distribution agreements and business sales. He has also worked in house for 3 years where he was responsible for drafting all contracts for a group of 7 companies, and advised the board of directors on mitigating and reducing exposure to risk.
Nick advises on a range of commercial matters including terms and conditions, ecommerce terms and conditions, IP licences, Shareholder and Investment Agreements, and also advises on business sales and acquisitions.
Paul Smith is Head of IT and Internet systems at Azrights. He has worked for a variety of Blue Chip and Consulting firms, with particular experience in the financial market, and over the last 6 years with SMEs.
His experience encompasses managing multi million pound development programmes but is equally comfortable helping smaller businesses take advantage of internet technology to enable growth and improve efficiency.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Principal
- Solicitor
Shireen Smith founded the firm with the aim of making IP easy to access.
The commitment to Easy Legal No Legalese stems from Shireen's experience as an in house lawyer, when she sometimes received advice from law firms that, though technically excellent, was difficult to understand.
Shireen qualified as a solicitor in the 80s and among other jobs, worked as an in house lawyer at Reuters for 5 years until the early 90s when she took time out to raise her two daughters.
Although she focuses on IP, IT, trademark and copyright matters, her main specialist subject is trademarks. Since founding Azrights in 2005 she has helped hundreds of business owners with their trademarks and a wide variety of IP, business and commercial legal matters, both contentious and non-contentious.