Isobel Barry

Isobel advises innovator healthcare companies through all stages of the therapeutic product lifecycle. Much of her time is spent on contentious matters relating to exclusivity-driving patents protecting commercially valuable products, including patents for small molecules, polymorphs and salt forms, combination therapies and pharmaceutical formulations. She defends such patents in multiparty opposition and appeal procedures at the European Patent Office, and provides crucial support for pan-European enforcement and the defence of nullity actions. She recently completed the Politecnico Milano European Patent Litigator course focusing on the new Unified Patent Court, and is a European Patent Litigator qualified to represent her clients in this new forum.

Isobel applies the perspective gained from her extensive contentious work to opinion work, FTO analysis and optimising prosecution for patent applications at the European Patent Office, including those for new chemical entities, drug delivery systems, dosage regimens and manufacturing methods in the pharmaceutical field. She also coordinates the prosecution of global patent portfolios for her clients. She has acted for some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, including Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals . Isobel was named as a Rising Star in IP by Managing IP in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and continues to be listed as a notable practitioner. She was also listed in the patent category of the 2021 Legal Media Group Expert Guide. World IP Review listed her as one of 20 global trailblazers in 2020, as an influential woman in IP in 2022, and as a WIPR leader and a Diversity Champion in 2023.

Isobel holds a first class degree from the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded the GlaxoSmithKline Prize for the Best Organic Chemistry Research Project in her final year.

Isobel is passionate about diversity and inclusion, including in the sector-wide IP Inclusive. She was a founding committee member of the LGBTQ+ network of IP Inclusive, IP Out, for which she is currently co-chair and she sat on the Women in IP committee for 6 years. She has also helped to coordinate several of Carpmaels’ community outreach initiatives and to drive our extensive D&I programme, including launching an LGBTQ+ network.