Jessie Naomi Ponniah is a MyIPO-registered Trademark Agent and serves as Assistant IP Manager at Cat and Pillar, with more than ten years of experience in trademark practice and brand protection. Jessie holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of the West of England, and has built her career assisting businesses in the protection and management of their brands across multiple jurisdictions.
Jessie has managed trademark portfolios across Southeast Asia, the United States, and other international jurisdictions, supporting multinational corporations and regional businesses. Her expertise spans the full trademark lifecycle, including trademark searches, filings, examination responses, oppositions, enforcement actions, renewals, trademark watch, and cross-border portfolio management, together with franchise registration, licensing matters, and coordination with international counsel.
Earlier in her career, Jessie gained direct exposure to anti-counterfeiting initiatives and market verification exercises, which grounded her understanding of brand protection in the period following registration, and not solely in securing it.
Jessie's most recent roles prior to joining Cat and Pillar spanned both private practice and in-house work, as a Trademark Executive at Spruson & Ferguson, and subsequently as Senior IP Paralegal at Paradise Group, one of Malaysia's most established F&B companies. This combination provided a practical understanding of the commercial considerations underlying a trademark portfolio, and of how legal protection must keep pace with a growing, multi-brand business. Among her most notable work has been assisting clients through contested registrations and objections, in a manner that preserved a brand's expansion plans, and not merely its formal paperwork.
Jessie's interests outside of work include travelling, reading, and watching films, together with time spent with her family.