Susan Kirsch

Susan is a Partner in the Chemistry team at Carpmaels & Ransford. She has a leading opposition and appeal practice, frequently representing clients before the Opposition Divisions and Boards of Appeal in hearings at the European Patent Office. Susan has vast patent experience, with particular strengths in consumer products, medical devices, food science, formulation chemistry, and fine chemicals, as well as industrial chemistry, catalysts, and polymers. The diversity of Susan’s patent experience, coupled with a sharp insight, allows her to adopt the right strategy for each case, enabling the best result for the client.

Susan has considerable experience in all patent related issues associated with the corporate environment. She previously worked for ten years in the patent department at Unilever PLC, qualifying as a European Patent Attorney and Chartered Patent Agent in 1994. Susan’s work within key product categories at Unilever PLC, included detergent and homecare products, personal products and food categories.

In addition to her range of patent work, Susan has been involved in revocation and infringement actions in the High Court in the UK, as well as litigation, in a number of other jurisdictions. These include nullity and infringement actions in Germany, saisie proceedings in Belgium and cross-border injunction proceedings in the Netherlands. She has also been singled out in Legal 500 for her success in large opposition proceedings with PATMA, 2017, confirming how she “successfully prosecuted and defended a key patent for […] Johnson and Johnson Vision Care in a cross border matter against four oppositions from other major manufacturers.”

Due to her substantial knowledge and experience within the industry, Susan is a member of the European Law, Chemistry and Food & Drug committees at AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association). She is also an active member of the AIPLA Women’s network and regularly attends the AIPLA meetings. She is an experienced tutor for the European Qualifying Examinations for CEIPI (Centre d’Études Internationales de la Propriété Intellectuelle) in Strasbourg.

Susan was recently recognised in the IAM Patent 1000 “for her flourishing opposition and appeal practice in fields as varied as consumer products, food science and polymers”. According to IAM she is “held in the highest esteem by peers and masterfully navigates oppositions before the EPO”. Susan is regularly included in MIP’s Top 250 Women in IP and was recently listed as a top 80 Influential Leader in WIPR’s Influential Women in IP.