J A Kemp

Biotechnology and Life Sciences

Of Counsel, European and UK Patent Attorney

Sarah joined J A Kemp in 1997, after working elsewhere in private practice for seven years. She was a partner from 2002 to 2023. She is now of counsel and available to work on individual projects as needed, especially providing input in relation to EPO Opposition/Appeal matters, as well as strategy advise for prosecution of cases before the EPO and overall portfolio management.

Sarah practices across a broad biotechnology subject matter base, including sequencing technology, genetics, gene delivery, antibodies, immunotherapeutics, purification methods, personalised medicine, pharmaceutical formulation and dosage regimens and research tools. She has extensive opposition experience, both defending and attacking, before the Opposition Division and Boards of Appeal at the EPO, notably on early cases relating to research tools such as PCR and more recently in relation to antibody therapeutics, medical uses and purification methods. She has also provided litigation support, particularly on cases where she has been handling related oppositions at the EPO.

She has advised many small and medium-sized companies, particularly in the UK and Scandinavia, on filing strategies and portfolio reviews, drafting specifications, and coordinating and managing foreign filings.  Sarah has also worked on filing and prosecution strategies before the EPO, especially for US clients.

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA); Member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI)

University of Cambridge, Masters Degree in Natural Sciences (Cellular and Genetic Pathology and Virology)