My former experience at the Australian Patent Office (IP Australia) provides me with an insider’s perspective on patent prosecution and oppositions to grant, as well as prior art searching and examination practice in Australia.
During the 11 years I served at IP Australia I supervised a multidisciplinary chemical examination section of 24 examiners and issued decisions on the validity of opposed patent applications as a hearing officer. As a patent data analyst I produced IP landscape reports and provided strategic IP information for research institutions and other government agencies, to help inform their decision makers. This experience has given me the expertise to handle patents across all areas of chemistry, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
In my current role as a private practitioner, my network of connections within the patent office combined with the wealth of knowledge I have of their internal practices has been of great value in providing efficient and effective service, in the best interests of my clients.
Prior to my career in Intellectual Property I worked as a post-doctoral research scientist at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland. My PhD and post-doctoral research focussed heavily on approaches to asymmetric synthesis of small organic molecules including natural products and drug leads.
I derive a great deal of enjoyment from working and collaborating with local clients to draft and prosecute patent applications for their inventions in Australia and New Zealand. Helping clients to realise maximum value from their IP as it matures, both here and abroad, is something I find immensely rewarding.
I love working at Wrays because the culture here is one of consultation and collaboration. We work together and help each other to produce the best result for the client. Our internal structure helps to foster this culture as it is relatively flat and therefore doesn’t reward internal competitiveness at the expense of good teamwork.
Qualifications
- Australian Patent and Trade Marks Attorney
- New Zealand Patent Attorney
Industry Areas
- Life Science & Biotechnology
- Pure and applied Chemistry
- Pharmaceuticals
- Food technology
- Agricultural Chemistry
- Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy & Process Technology
- Plant varieties and Plant Breeder’s Rights
- Medical Technologies
Educational Background
- PhD in organic synthetic chemistry from the Australian National University (ANU)
- Masters of Intellectual Property Law
- Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Chemistry
Professional Affiliations
- Institute of Patent and Trademark Attorneys of Australia (Member)
- Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (Member)