Professional Qualifications:
European Patent Attorney
Chartered Patent Attorney
As a Chartered and European Patent Attorney and European Patent Litigator, Tom is able to represent clients in matters before the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
Academic Qualifications:
M. Chem. Chemistry, University of Durham
Ph.D Organometallic Chemistry, University of Bristol
Tom handles patent work, mainly in the chemical field with a special focus on polymers, reactor technology, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, and petrochemical processing. He is involved in drafting, prosecution and opposition work in the UK and Europe, and management of client portfolios around the world (including in particular other countries in Europe, the US, Australia and Canada). Tom regularly provides Freedom to Operate advice, coordinating searches for conflicting rights, reviewing UK and European patents and working with local attorneys to provide robust and pragmatic guidance to a range of clients.
In addition to his work in the chemical field, Tom manages a significant portfolio of rights relating to data centres. That work includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications related to data centre design, construction and operation, and advising on infringement and validity issues in the UK and Europe in this rapidly developing technical field.
"Tom is absolutely part of the [Recycling Technologies] family and has been very helpful in the development so far. Tom makes things very seamless, as he understands our process and understands where we are novel."
Marvine Besong, Technical Director, Recycling Technologies Ltd
Alongside patent work, Tom handles registered design work across a range of technical areas, in the UK, the European Union, and overseas.
Tom joined Abel + Imray in 2012, and splits his time between our Cardiff and Delft offices. During his PhD studies, Tom worked in collaboration with Lucite International, specialising in the development of new catalysts for applications in industrial chemistry. His work focused on the synthesis and testing of highly selective homogeneous palladium catalysts used in the preparation of methyl propionate, a sought-after intermediate for the production of methyl methacrylate. Over the course of his PhD, Tom synthesised of a variety of novel asymmetric and highly air-sensitive phosphine ligands, and characterised the ligands and their complexes with palladium and platinum by techniques including NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and mass spectrometry.
During a secondment to the Patent Department of a global oil and petrochemicals company, Tom gained valuable industrial experience through his involvement in patent drafting, prosecution and opposition work relating to a variety of aspects of industrial chemistry including polymer compositions, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, bulk chemical production processes and refinery apparatus.
Tom is an examiner for the UK Patent Examination Board, the authority that sets the qualifying exams to become a UK Chartered Patent Attorney.
