Susan is a partner and patent attorney in our Life Sciences & Chemistry group and specialises in biotechnology and therapeutics. Her practice focuses on obtaining patent protection for commercially valuable products and platform technologies for early-stage to medium-sized clients, where she has particular expertise in cell, gene and antibody therapies, genome editing, synthetic biology, and nucleic acid amplification, manipulation and sequencing technologies. Clients value her approachability, pragmatic and commercially tailored advice, and her knack for obtaining patents for complex and challenging cases.
Bringing significant experience in contentious matters, she regularly advocates for clients in EPO opposition and appeal proceedings, as well as provides support in UK litigation proceedings. She is adept at preparing validity opinions and carrying out freedom to operate analyses.
She also assists clients in maximising patent term by co-ordinating the filing and prosecution of pan-European supplementary protection certificates (SPCs).
Susan brings a strong academic background to her practice, stemming from over 10 years of doctoral and postdoctoral research in synthetic biology and biocatalysis, and has broad technical experience in biotechnology, molecular biology and organic chemistry. Away from the office, Susan enjoys travelling and is a keen hiker and skier.