J A Kemp LLP has appointed Dr Ian MacLeod as a Partner in its London office.

Ian is qualified as a European and UK Chartered Patent Attorney. He joined J A Kemp in January 2020 after working for over ten years at another top tier firm. [Carpmaels & Ransford]

Ian handles a wide range of subject matter in the biotechnological and life sciences field, with particular expertise in bacterial products targeting the microbiome, vaccines, antibody therapeutics, biomarker diagnostics, and antisense nucleotides.

Ian has extensive experience of drafting patents and of prosecuting and defending global patent portfolios. Having helped his clients obtain the grant of commercially important patents, he frequently defends them at the European Patent Office, including in multi-party cases up to the Boards of Appeal. He is also experienced in handling multi-jurisdiction litigation actions across Europe and around the world. In addition, Ian advises on complex freedom to operate and infringement matters and assists with licence negotiations.

Before joining the profession, Ian studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, specialising in Genetics, and undertook a PhD at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. His PhD research characterised the toxic polymerisation of mutant neuroserpin, which causes a rare dementia, through the development and utilisation of a Drosophila model of the disease.