Suzy is a commercial lawyer specialising in technology law, intellectual property, and business contracts.
Suzy acts for clients across the finance, fast-moving consumer goods, technology, food & drink, retail, professional services, consumer healthcare, advertising, energy and agriculture industries. She acts for entities of all sizes and stages, ranging from household brands and global companies to scale-up businesses.
Suzy advises on complex agreements relating to the development, ownership, exploitation and use of software. She acts for both technology customers and software providers and has negotiated with global system vendors including SAP.
Suzy is instructed by clients on matters relating to copyright, trademark protection and enforcement, patent licensing, confidential information, domain names and comparative advertising.
In her previous senior in-house role in the FTSE 100 company, Reckitt, Suzy was responsible for advising leading brands such as Nurofen, Finish, Dettol, Vanish and Durex. She was also responsible for dealing with Reckitt’s response to the Petya cyberattack.
A qualified Australian lawyer since 2002, Suzy is uniquely placed to support her clients with Australian-law needs, engaged in this capacity via Keypoint Law.
Suzy is a pleasure to work with. She is highly commercial in her approach and provides thoughtful, pragmatic and timely legal advice.
EMEA Head of Technology and IP Law
Top tier global investment bankSuzy provides excellent legal support, with a personable and clear-headed approach. She quickly gets up to speed with legal issues and has an eye to commercial objectives and strategic matters when giving her advice. I am happy to recommend her as a legal advisor.
Steve Troote, SVP Northern Europe and Australia/New Zealand
Reckitt Benckiser UK
Expertise
Technology
- Software development and licensing agreements including master services agreements and SaaS subscription terms
- Contractual terms relating to SLAs/service credits, software support and maintenance, information security
- Legal issues relating to agile software development
- Website/app service terms and e-retailer terms
- Contracts relating to the creation, use and licensing of data
- Outsourcing agreements
- Strategic advice for technology startups relating to IP, third party suppliers, data and regulatory regimes
- Commercialisation of assets including data
- GDPR compliance programs for software companies
- Social media law
Intellectual Property
- Copyright, trade marks and patent licensing
- IP ownership including assignment, co-ownership and the structuring of rights in joint development projects
- Commercialisation of IP including royalty arrangements
- Protection of rights in software
- Rights in data
- Protection of knowhow and confidential information
- Domain name recovery
Commercial Contracts
- Terms of supply of goods and services
- Services agreements
- Manufacturing agreements
- Consultancy contracts
- Cross-border distribution (China, US, Australia, UK)
- General business contracts
- Non-disclosure agreements
- Early-stage contract disputes
M&A/Corporate
- IP and IT in corporate transactions, including due diligence, warranties and indemnities, transitional services
- Assisting IP-rich companies to prepare for sale or investment, through IP audits and remediation advice
- Assessment of intangible assets of target companies and related legal advice
Marketing/Advertising
- Marketing agreements
- Sponsorship, endorsements, and engagement of influencers
- Application of ASA codes
- Social media marketing law
- Regulation of comparative advertising
Experience
Technology
- Negotiated a core banking software agreement with SAP for a fintech client.
- Prepared SaaS Agreements for a range of clients including software vendors and technology customers.
- Acted for a leading travel software vendor in relation to a master services agreement for the supply of business-critical software to a global travel business.
- Negotiated on behalf of Reckitt to put in place data sharing contracts relating to consumer purchasing data.
- Advised software developer Codegen on agile software development contracts.
- Prepared website and mobile application supply terms for technology vendors including Reincubate.
- Advised a neobank client on contracting methods adopted by global software vendors, including AWS and Salesforce.
- Advised notonthehighstreet.com on its B2C terms and liability for supplier default.
- Prepared online distribution agreements for Reckitt’s ecommerce business unit.
- Prepared terms of use, digital content supply terms and privacy policies for an online publisher.
- Advised a global drinks/media company on e-gaming event contracts.
- Prepared data centre and hosting agreements on behalf of a vendor, including BaaS Terms.
- Advised on regulatory and contractual issues relating to the Durex sex education chatbot.
- Advising a UK technology company in a dispute with Ofcom regarding ownership of data obtained through consumer-use monitoring hardware.
Intellectual Property
- Prepared IP licences in connection with a pharmaceutical joint venture, acting for the IP owner.
- Prepared joint development agreements for a well-known drinks company, governing ownership of product innovations.
- Advised a UK electronic stock exchange on intellectual property rights in its software and data products.
- Drafted trade mark licence agreements for luxury fashion brand Malone Souliers.
- Acted for snack brand graze (part of the Unilever Group) in IP litigation relating to copycat packaging.
- Advised vertical farming technology and research company Vertical Future on its ownership and licensing of data.
- Assisted travel technology vendor SITA to identify, capture and protect its inventions, including advising on patenting strategy.
- Prepared a complex patent licence relating to the use of geothermal energy on behalf of an alternative energy provider.
- Acted in multiple brand cease-and-desist actions on behalf of notonthehighstreet.com, including domain name recovery.
- Prepared IP assignments in connection with the sale of a client’s brand.
- Advised king.com on copyright issues relating to the use of historic literary characters in computer games.
- Advised Diageo regarding the inclusion of third-party products in a virtual store environment.
- Managed a high-profile patent litigation relating to the Durex brand, whilst acting in an in-house capacity at Reckitt.
Commercial Contracts
- Advised on Starbucks’ global purchasing terms, acting on behalf of a household drinks brand.
- Assisted VOOST vitamins (now part of the Procter & Gamble Group) with its European manufacturing and distribution arrangements.
- Engaged by a global drinks/media brand on a key UK distribution contract.
- Advised Durex in connection with its UK franchising arrangements.
- Prepared cross-border distribution contracts relating to the sale of luxury consumer staples in the Chinese market.
- Negotiated a consultancy agreement on behalf of luxury, beauty and fashion eCommerce consultancy Atelier & Avenue.
- Directed Reckitt’s Northern European response on contractual issues arising from the Petya cyberattack, covering force majeure/suspension of performance and claims from retailers for lost profits/failed deliveries.
M&A/Corporate
- Acted for Media 10 in connection with the sale of the Design Shanghai and Design China Beijing events to Clarion Events (commercial law aspects).
- Acted for a leading provider of information services and technology to the healthcare industry in connection with its acquisition of a big data research specialist.
- Advised DesignMyNight on its M&A sale to private-equity-owned The Access Group (commercial law aspects).
- Provided strategic advice and analysis to Serco relating to a target’s IP assets and licensing arrangements.
- Acted for global corporate The Armonia Group on its acquisition of The Private Group, parent company of Office Concierge (commercial law aspects).
- Prepared a whitepaper for a global, listed mass media & information firm regarding complex copyright issues relating to a target’s business.
Marketing/Advertising
- Prepared vlogger and blogger influencer agreements on behalf of Reckitt.
- Advised on comparative marketing campaigns relating to the Finish and Nurofen brands.
- Advised marketing agency Brand Culture on its customer contracts.
- Prepared a social media marketing services agreement for a famous soft drinks company.
- Negotiated with Global Radio to agree sponsorship and competition terms relating to a Clearasil/Power Rangers campaign.
- Advised Spotify on issues relating to the use of user-generated content.
- Advised a mobile phone brand on liability, branding and licensing issues relating to its proposed social media campaigns.
- Prepared social media policies for luxury goods company Richemont, for use by its stable of brands.
Food & Beverage
- Prepared joint development agreements for a well-known drinks company, governing ownership of product innovations.
- Acted for snack brand graze (part of the Unilever Group) in IP litigation relating to copycat packaging.
- Advised on Starbucks’ global purchasing terms, acting on behalf of a household drinks brand.
- Advised a global drinks/media company on e-gaming event contracts.
- Assisted VOOST vitamins (now part of the Procter & Gamble Group) with its European manufacturing and distribution arrangements.
Retail
- Advised Diageo regarding the inclusion of third-party products in a virtual store environment.
- Prepared online terms & conditions for various ecommerce businesses.
- Advised a global FMCG manufacturer in relation to its key warehousing and logistics contracts.
- Acted for online retailed notonthehighstreet.com on various legal issues relating to their business, including B2C terms, IP protection & enforcement and consumer law.
- Advised luxury shoe brand Malone Souliers on online marketplace terms.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised by The Legal 500 2017 for her expertise in relation to Commercial Contracts and Brand Management
Recognised by The Legal 500 2018 for her expertise in relation to Commercial Contracts
Suzy holds a postgraduate diploma in Intellectual Property Law & Practice obtained from Bristol University in 2007, the leading UK qualification for IP lawyers.
Career
Suzy first qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and is admitted to practise in England & Wales, Australia (Victoria) and New Zealand.
Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2016, she worked at the following firms:
- Kemp Little
- Speechly Bircham
- Herbert Smith
- Clayton Utz (Melbourne, Australia)