
Carpmaels & Ransford is pleased to announce the promotion of Rhodri Hopes, Craig Lumb, Emily Nikolić, and Sam Sackville to Senior Associate, effective from 1st January 2022.
Rhodri Hopes is part of the Pharmaceuticals team, with a focus on small molecules. He has a wealth of experience working on inventions spanning the entire product development process, from drafting and prosecuting applications relating to new chemical entities through to further medical uses, new pharmaceutical forms and formulations. Rhodri has worked on various contentious issues in both attack and defence, having been involved in EPO oppositions/appeals and UK Court proceedings covering blockbuster drugs, and has represented clients in SPC matters before the UKIPO.
Craig Lumb is a solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team with a focus on patent litigation, primarily in the life sciences sector, and he has assisted clients with litigation in respect of pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the High Court and the Court of Appeal in the UK. Craig also has extensive experience coordinating parallel litigation across multiple jurisdictions in the context of global pharmaceutical life cycle management projects for several blockbuster products.
Emily Nikolić sits within the Biotech team and covers a broad range of life sciences inventions. She has extensive experience in both attacking and defending patents in EPO opposition and appeal proceedings to protect her clients’ commercial interests. Emily is currently working on a number of multi-party cases relating to therapeutic antibodies, in addition to providing support in parallel litigation in several jurisdictions. She advises her clients on all stages of patent prosecution, developing strategies to strengthen their patent portfolios and maximise patent term.
Sam Sackville is part of the Pharmaceuticals team, and his practice spans the full spectrum of pharmaceutical subject‑matter, including the preparation, prosecution, opposition, and defence of patents directed to new chemical entities, further medical uses, formulations, and polymorphs. Currently, Sam is defending several patents protecting blockbuster pharmaceuticals in multi-party opposition and appeal proceedings at the EPO. His extensive knowledge of the issues that can crop up in these contentious proceedings feeds back into his work at the drafting and prosecution stage.
Hugh Goodfellow, Managing Partner at Carpmaels & Ransford, comments:
“Our healthcare clients look to us for advice throughout the entire product lifecycle, from invention mining through to enforcement and litigation. These promotions highlight our deep bench of talent which enables us to support our clients at every stage of development. Congratulations to Rhodri, Craig, Emily and Sam on their well-deserved promotions.”
The news follows the promotion of life sciences specialists Isobel Barry and Anna Leathley to the partnership in July 2021.