Dr Toby Thompson is a principal and patent attorney based in Melbourne.
Toby provides a range of patent services for clients, including advising on global patent strategy, portfolio management, and patent drafting and prosecution. He has developed a reputation as someone that grasps complex legal and technical issues, has an ability to provide pragmatic solutions, and who can think creatively to achieve results. Alongside counselling clients on protecting their technology, a significant part of Toby’s practice involves conducting freedom to operate searches, and advising on infringement and patent invalidity. He also has considerable experience of opposition practice before the Australian, New Zealand and European patent offices.
His technical expertise lies in chemical and biological inventions, in the areas of pharmaceuticals, animal healthcare, agrochemicals, chemical processes, consumer products, and food and beverage technology. Following a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry, Toby worked in research for 5 years for a multinational pharmaceutical company, initially in medicinal chemistry identifying candidate drugs, and subsequently leading a group carrying out process development and synthesising APIs for preclinical studies.
Toby presents regularly on patenting strategies and issues, teaches patent drafting at the University of Melbourne, and lectures on IP and entrepreneurship for PhD students at RMIT. Toby has also delivered IP workshops in the UK and Sweden, and was a lecturer in medicinal chemistry whilst working in research.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Organic Chemistry), University of Nottingham (UK)
- Master of Science (Hons)(Chemistry), University of Nottingham (UK)
- Master of Intellectual Property, University of Melbourne
- Certificate of Intellectual Property, Queen Mary College, University of London
- Registered Patent Attorney (Australia and New Zealand)
- Qualified as European and UK Patent Attorney
Associations
- Member, Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia
