Dr. Clare Stephens

Clare has been working in the field of intellectual property protection since 2002. After studying natural sciences at Cambridge University, she spent over three years in research, working in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London.

 

Clare advises businesses in the life sciences sector on their intellectual property protection, providing a personal service tailored to the commercial needs of each client.

 

She helps businesses to manage their patent portfolio and obtain patent protection worldwide through different prosecution strategies. Clare has particular experience in prosecuting applications at the European Patent Office in areas limited by excluded subject matter provisions, such as medical and diagnostic use applications, and applications covering stem cell technology.

 

Over the years she has worked with organisations of all sizes, from individual inventors and startups to medium and large companies. Her clients have developed products and services in a range of life science sectors, such as:

• biopharmaceuticals;
• gene therapy;
• immunology including antibody technology;
• pharmaceutical chemistry;
• polymer chemistry;
• protein chemistry; and
• virology

 

Clare also provides strategic advice, including invention capture programmes for R&D projects, drafts and files patent applications, handles prosecution of applications and patent oppositions, and advises on and coordinates worldwide prosecution strategies.