Christopher Mason
Partner, MSci (Hons), LLM, MRSC, CPA, EPA
Chris is an experienced patent attorney operating over a wide range of fields including chemistry, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and medical devices. Chris is particularly experienced working directly with companies to design and implement patent filing strategies that align with the commercial objectives of the business. Chris most often comes across green innovation in the little things. It may be a reduction in the energy required for a manufacturing process, innovations that allow for a greater use of recycled feedstock, or a new material with improved degradability. Regulatory pressures are a clear driver in these green developments, but there is now also a clear focus amongst many companies toward product life cycle sustainability. The headline green technologies alone will not be enough for us to meet our green goals, we will also need the combination of countless smaller iterative improvements to help us get there.
David Walsh
Partner, BSc, PhD, CChem, CSci, MRSC, CPA, EPA, MITMA
David is a partner at Appleyard Lees and has been in the patent profession for nearly thirty years. Much of that time has been spent drafting, prosecuting, and advising clients in relation to patents for chemical innovations. He has extensive experience in FTO reviews, patentability advice, IP agreements and patent oppositions at the EPO. His experience in green technology has included non-toxic marine coatings, carbon capture technology and non-fossil fuel-based monomer routes. David's interest in green technology and the environment began at University where his PhD work included identifying potential carbonaceous absorbents for chlorofluorocarbons which were in the process of being phased out due to the discovery of the growing hole in the ozone layer. Since qualifying as a patent attorney in 1997 he has worked with leading clients on a range of replacement technologies which address specific environmental problems such as the impact of tin compounds on marine organisms, lower energy monomer production, bio-based monomers, polymers and compositions that remove carbon dioxide, biodegradable materials and fuel cell improvements.
Sarah Abdou-Shehada
Trainee Patent Attorney, MChem, MRes, PhD
Sarah specialises in patenting inventions in the chemical space. She earned an MRes and PhD from the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies at the University of Bath. Prior to joining the patent profession, Sarah worked within a consortium of large pharmaceutical companies, universities, and small/medium-sized entities across Europe, aiming to develop sustainable manufacturing methods for the pharmaceutical industry. From her work in both the intellectual property profession and academia, Sarah has gained insight into the intellectual property and business priorities of enterprises of various sizes.
Paul Beynon
Senior Associate, MEng, CPA, EPA
Paul’s strong engineering background and in-house experience makes him well-positioned to offer clients commercially sensible, tailored support. Paul works with a range of start-ups and SMEs to maximise the value of their IP. Paul handles many inventions related to green technology, including improved engines, thermodynamic cycles, environmental innovations and the like. Green technology is one of Paul’s passions and he thoroughly enjoys being able to work with innovative companies in this field.
Rory Brown
Trainee Patent Attorney, MChem, MRes, PhD
Rory works on patents in the electronic and engineering sectors, using his background in physics and computing to advise clients on a wide range of new technologies. He enjoys using his experience in data analysis to identify and explain key trends that we can see in the wider world.
More broadly, Rory is interested in sustainability and in how policy might be used to make or encourage the changes necessary to meet climate goals worldwide.