Manel Ben Said

Manel has been practicing in the field of Intellectual Property since commencing her legal career in France in 2008. Her practice focuses on trademark portfolio management including advising on best practices for protection, Intellectual Property Rights agreements, large-scale enforcement programs and domain name disputes.

Manel joined Al Tamimi after an In House experience as Anti-Counterfeiting Manager at Louis Vuitton Malletier, where she was in charge of the enforcement activities of Louis Vuitton and the LVMH fashion Group for the Middle East and Africa. Manel is specialised in developing and implementing cross-regional enforcement programs for Luxury brands. She developed a strong knowledge in transnational cases from conducting investigations to cross-boarders enforcement actions. Manel delivered multiples trainings to Law Enforcement Authorities across the MENA region and participated in various lobbying activities. She implemented the first on-line enforcement program for automatic takedown of infringing accounts and pages in collaboration with social media platforms and a UAE governmental authority.

Before joining Al Tamimi and Co. in 2012, Manel worked with Cedar White and Bradley where she acquired experience in the selection, clearance, registration, and enforcement of trademarks across several jurisdictions in the Middle East, Iran and Pakistan. With the firm, she advised a leading US-based consumer electronics and software company on the enforcement of its IP rights in the MENA region. Manel worked with clients across a broad range of industries including the FMCG, electronics, automotive, pharmaceuticals, tobacco and oil industries. This broad experience has provided her with invaluable knowledge and industry specific insight into her clients’ business requirements for matters such as the exploitation of intellectual property assets.

Prior to that, Manel was trained with IBM France as a Junior IP Lawyer for two years. She worked with the team in charge of IBM Corporation trademark portfolio and was particularly involved into Trademark portfolio management in EMEA countries and UDRP complaints before WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) against domain names infringing the IBM trademark. In spite of the many constraints resulting from the IBM complex worldwide organization and processes in relation with the management of one of the most valuable brand worldwide, Manel developed a strong capacity of analysis, particularly with respect to the management of workload and priorities. Manel has drafted the first IBM URDP Complaint against a domain name infringing the famous IBM brand under WIPO Disputes Resolution.