Committee

Stuart Jackson gained a degree in Chemistry from Imperial College, after which he pursued research at Oxford involving enzyme mechanisms.  After a few years in the brewing industry, he subsequently spent 15 years as a chemist and project manager in the health care industry, principally in the field of wound healing.  He qualified as a solicitor in 1996, and now specialises in intellectual property law, particularly patent law, undertaking both litigation and non-contentious work such as licensing.

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Don Lewis is a partner with Lewis Kohn & Fitzwilliam, LLP, a San Diego law firm specializing in issues relating to technology and innovation.  Don has law degrees from both the US and the UK and is a practising attorney-at-law in California.  He is also licensed to practise before both the USPTO and the Canadian IPO.  He is admitted to the WIPO roster of arbitration neutrals and remains on the Law Society Roll as a non-practising solicitor.  He was a founding member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemistry and the Law (CHAL) and helped found the RSC Law Group, which he presently chairs.  He has a PhD in biophysics and was elected a Fellow of the RSC, in part, for his contributions to the early development of Click Chemistry.

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Graham studied chemistry at Oxford University and then qualified as a solicitor.  He is a partner at Marks & Clerk Solicitors and specialises in all aspects of intellectual property law, including patents, trade marks, designs, copyright and confidential information.  His work is primarily concerned with contentious matters, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation.  He has acted in patent infringement and validity disputes in a wide range of fields, including the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and electronics sectors.  He also advises on non-contentious matters and a significant part of his practice consists of advising clients in connection with the development and commercial exploitation of their intellectual property rights.

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Tony Chalk is a Colour Chemist who gained his degree and doctorate at Leeds University.  It was during his studies that he became a member of the RSC.  His industrial career spanned over 20 years in the dyestuffs and printing industries, initially as a research scientist and information manager, before he moved into the IP field whilst employed by DuPont in the early 1990s.  At the beginning of 2000 he entered private practice with Harrison Goddard Foote, where he became a partner in 2001, specialising particularly in patents in the fields of colour and printing technology, nuclear chemistry and pharmaceuticals.

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Alex gained a Chemistry degree from Oxford University, which involved a final year working for Professor Steve Davies devising new synthetic routes to certain amino acids. Alex is now a UK and European patent attorney at the firm Haseltine Lake.  Alex drafts and prosecutes UK and European patent applications, with a particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals and medical technologies.  He also works on European Opposition cases.  Alex's clients include a number of universities and high-technology SMEs.

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Dr Richard Toon is an Enterprise Business Manager for health at a university, involved in the commercialisation of medical technology. Prior to that, he held a number of scientific positions within large pharmaceutical companies, in the areas of parenteral and pulmonary drug delivery. Formerly, Richard has been closely associated with commercially-orientated research at The University of Nottingham, in the area of surface characterisation techniques and Cardiff University in the areas of pulmonary and transdermal drug delivery. Richard has a degree in applied chemistry and a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry. He also has a graduate diploma in law and an LLM in corporate law. Latterly, his career has focused on intellectual property and contract law. Richard is also a technical and business development manager for Nemaura Pharma and he has been elected a fellow of the RSC, in part for his contributions to the area of atomic force microscopy at the University of Nottingham.

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Howard qualified as a medicinal chemist, having read Chemistry at The Queen's College, Oxford, and then completed a Ph.D. in the Pharmacy Department of the University of Manchester. He then entered the pharmaceutical industry and spent several years in medicinal chemistry research, firstly synthesizing radio-labelled compounds at May and Baker and then 9 years at Beecham Pharmaceuticals researching into several different disease areas before changing direction and moving to Generics [UK] Ltd. in 1986. The company then became Merck Generics where he was appointed the Group IP and API Strategy Director and was responsible for the start up of several distinct and diverse teams covering areas ranging from IP to API synthesis. He was involved not only with Intellectual Property matters on an international scale but also in Regulatory Affairs. He helped to instigate and develop the lobby organization, now known as the European Generic medicines Association, EGA, for the European generics industry. Howard is now a Scientific Advisor at the London office of Frommer, Lawrence and Haug, LLP.

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Joseph gained a Chemistry degree from Durham University.  During and after his degree, Joseph gained experience of IP law by working for the technology transfer offices in Oxford and London. Joseph returned to Durham University to complete a Ph.D. working on selective recovery of platinum group metal catalysts from mixed metal solutions (sponsored by BP Chemicals).  Joseph is now a UK and European patent attorney at the firm Mewburn Ellis LLP.  Joseph is responsible for drafting and prosecution of UK and European patent applications, with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals, polymers and molecular imaging.

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Jennifer gained a Double Honours degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Southampton, and during the course of her degree spent time gaining practical experience in the areas of medicinal and combinatorial chemistry at BioFocus. Since 2001 she has been working in the patent profession, qualifying as both a UK and European Patent Attorney in 2005 and working with Kilburn & Strode LLP since 2006. Jennifer's practice focusses on the drafting and prosecution of patent applications before the EPO, UKIPO and worldwide, representing clients in hearings at the EPO and providing infringement and validity opinions. She works with companies ranging from start-ups and university technology transfer offices to multinational companies. Her work has a particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals, but she also works in many diverse areas of chemistry, including glass, ceramic and composite material technology and process chemistry.

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Leythem has a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University, which involved a final year working for Professor Peter Edwards FRS investigating the dielectric catastrophe in high temperature superconducting systems. Having trained as a patent attorney in the Biotechnology and Chemical departments of a private practice in London, he is now in-house intellectual property counsel for a large multinational company and is based in Brussels, Belgium. Leythem is a Chartered UK Patent Attorney, a European Patent Attorney and a European Trademark and Design Attorney. He specialises in patent drafting, prosecution as well as Oppositions and Appeals, including representation in Oral Proceedings before the European Patent Office in Munich and The Hague.

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