PETOŠEVIĆ PEOPLE: Q&A with Diliya Chanysheva

Based in our Kazakhstan office, Junior Associate Diliya Chanysheva handles prosecution, enforcement and contentious IP matters. Before joining PETOŠEVIĆ, Diliya worked as a senior trademark examiner at the Kazakh IPO and as the chief legal analyst at the Kazakh Ministry of Justice’s IP Rights Center. We asked Diliya about her work, her favorite pastimes, things most people don’t know about her, and much more.

1. How did you start your career in IP?

   My LLM in IP at Grenoble Alpes University in Grenoble, France required an internship to graduate. I wanted to return to Kazakhstan and continue my professional path here, so I started seeking IP-related jobs.

2. What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

   Communicating with the Kazakh Intellectual Property Office can sometimes be challenging. Patience and perseverance are essential for solving any issues.

3. What do you most enjoy doing at work?

   There is always something new to learn.

4. What would you be working in, if you weren’t working in IP?

   I enjoy drawing and photography. I am also interested in neurobiology and psychology, so maybe something in these fields of work.

5. What was the first job you’ve ever had?

   Selling ice cream and newspapers during summer break in school.

6. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

   The first thing that comes to my mind is tango. I also enjoy walking, riding a bike, doing yoga, watching TV series, and spending time with my cat Melissa.

7. What book did you read last?

   Fredrik Backman’s “Anxious People”. He is very talented.

8. What is your favorite song/music at the moment?

   To boost my Spanish, I listen to songs in Spanish. I also listen to Georgian singer Megi Gogitidze and to American cellist’s Yo-Yo Ma’s music.

9. What is your favorite dish of all time?

   Guyru lagman, a popular local dish with meat, vegetables and pulled noodles.

10. If you could meet anyone in the world, from the past or present, who would it be and why?

    I would meet Vincent van Gogh and ask him who in fact cut off the lower part of his left ear.

11. What was your favorite subject in school and why?

    English, because I had a wonderful teacher.

12. What did you want to be when growing up?

    I wanted to be a marine biologist. I was interested in stingrays, whales, turtles and dolphins, and I wanted to live by the ocean and learn about ocean animals.

13. Tell us three things most people don’t know about you.

    I learned to ride a bicycle at 27. I’ve never driven a car. Until the age of about three, I didn’t speak Russian, I spoke only Kazakh.

14. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

    To play the piano or the violin.

15. What is your biggest frustration about the world around you?

    Many people don’t care about our planet Earth.

16. What is the most important thing you have learned in the last five years?

    We can learn almost anything at any age through effort and will. When we learn something new, we create a new pathway. The Italians have a saying: “I muri sono nella mente”, which means “The walls are only in our head”.

17. What do you wish you could have told yourself at age 13?

    Take life easy!

18. What cities/countries have you lived in?

    In Kazakhstan, I’ve lived in Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Taldykorgan and Qonaev. I have also lived in Indore in central India, and Strasbourg, Grenoble, and Saint-Thomé in France.

19. If you could live in another country of the 30+ countries where PETOŠEVIĆ operates, which would you pick and why?

    I would pick Montenegro because it is completely different from the places where I have lived.

20. If someone came to your city for 24 hours, where would you take them?

    I have only lived in Nur-Sultan for a relatively short time, less than three years, so I still consider Almaty my city. In Almaty, I would take my visitor for a walk in the Arbat pedestrian zone and in the beautiful Terrenkur park.