Sarah Couper is a registered Patent Attorney in Australia and New Zealand and a registered Australian Trade Marks Attorney. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours in Genetics and Biochemistry and a Master of Intellectual Property Law. She has practiced in the IP field for nearly 20 years, specialising in the biotechnology field. She has considerable experience in patent portfolio management to both local and overseas clients. She is also experienced in opposition and re-examination proceedings before the Australian Patent Office, litigation support and freedom to operate advice.
Prior to joining the Patent Attorney profession in 2001, Sarah worked in the commercial arm of one of Australia’s leading universities, where she was involved in patent portfolio administration, and the coordination of material transfer and confidentiality agreements. She was also involved in the review of invention disclosures to assess potential for patent protection and commercialisation. She has also worked at the research level as a Research Assistant at one of Australia’s leading medical research institutes. This experience provides Sarah with a critical understanding of the whole lifecycle of patent protection.
Technical expertise
- Patent drafting and filing specialising in biotechnology
- Patent prosecution, including major jurisdictions US, EP, AU and NZ
- Patent oppositions and re-examination
- Patent validity and freedom to operate advice
- Litigation support
Areas of expertise
- Biotechnology
- Plant Breeder Rights (PBR)
- Genetics and gene discovery
- Molecular biology
- Pharmaceuticals and formulations
- Medical treatments and diagnostics
