The IP Federation is pleased to announce that Sarah Vaughan has been elected as the new President of the Federation, effective 11 July 2025.
Sarah is a UK Chartered Patent Attorney, European patent attorney and UPC representative with over 15 years of experience in IP matters. She joined the profession after completing her PhD in mechanical engineering. After spending some time in private practice, Sarah joined Rolls-Royce’s in‑house IP department.
Sarah is a Senior Patent Attorney at Rolls-Royce and has represented Rolls-Royce in prosecution matters and oppositions at the European Patent Office. Sarah takes the lead on projects involving multiple patent families with multi‑disciplinary teams. She also focuses on process developments and improvements.
Sarah has two young children, and outside of work likes nothing more than exploring the outdoors with her family.
Sarah will be assisted by Immediate Past President, Adrian Howes
Adrian is a UK qualified solicitor, with 20 years of experience in intellectual property law in both private practice and industry. Adrian has worked in various fields including pharma, IT and telecoms, and has advised primarily on patent-related issues, but also on competition, licensing, copyright, trade secret and design concerns. He has a degree from the University of Cambridge in law, and a master’s in chemistry from Durham University.
Adrian is currently Head of IP and Standards in Nokia’s IP policy group, having previously been part of its litigation team. His work at Nokia presently encompasses policy and regulation on IPR issues, mainly in relation to open standards and software. This includes active involvement in cross-industry discussions on IPR and its place in the next generation of communications technology and industry standards.
Adrian enjoys social running, cycling away from London with friends (ideally finding a gastropub en route) and discovering new countries and cultures – if he can find somewhere to scuba-dive on the way too, then he is doubly happy.
He was President of the IP Federation from 2024 to 2025.
They will both work with newly elected Vice-President, Kevin Scott
Kevin is a UK Chartered Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney and UPC representative with over 25 years of experience in IP matters. He joined Philips in the UK after completing a degree in Natural Sciences, where he worked for 12 years as a research scientist (also obtaining a PhD in electrical engineering). He then moved to the IP department where he has spent most of his time licensing Philips’ patents to third parties.
He is now a Licensing Program Leader in Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, leading a global team of licensing professionals in technical areas including telecommunications and television. He has extensive experience in multinational litigation of standard essential patents.
Kevin has an (almost) grown up family, and outside work enjoys spending time with them, cycling, dog walking, travelling and genealogy.
Directors of the IP Federation
All three members of the presidential troika will also serve as directors of the IP Federation from 11 July 2025.
