Carpmaels & Ransford LLP

Life Sciences

Daniel specialises in biologics and pharmaceuticals, with particular expertise in protein therapeutics, medicinal chemistry and vaccine technology. Much of his time is spent handling European Patent Office (EPO) opposition proceedings, in which he has extensive experience in attack and defence both at first instance and appeal. He is a sought-after oral advocate and was picked to lead the successful EPO oppositions linked to the widely cited US cases AbbVie v. Janssen and Amgen v. Sanofi.

Aside from his opposition practice, Daniel carries out a range of patent work, including original drafting, prosecution at the EPO and overseas, opinions, and freedom to operate analyses. He is regularly involved in pan-European litigation, and has particular experience leading the EPO side of complex international disputes.  He is passionate about helping his clients bring their innovative medicines to market, with robust protection and free of competitor patents. He has an in-depth knowledge of the complex world of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for authorised medicines, having coordinated several business-critical SPC portfolios across the EU and advised on the infringement and validity of various third party SPCs. He has contributed to several SPC cases at the Court of Justice of the European Union, including Queensland (C-630/10), Neurim
(C-130/11) and Abraxis (C-443/17). With the Unified Patent Court (UPC) now open for business, Daniel has been amongst the very first to bring an action at that court.

Daniel has a global client base, from the US to Japan and Australia.  He is regularly in our Munich office and Europe more generally, where he focuses on the innovative pharmaceutical sectors of Germany, Switzerland and Denmark in particular.  According to The Legal 500, Daniel is “an excellent strategist and has the ability to engage in detailed aspects of a project while still maintaining perspective of the overall task. A creative problem solver”. He is also acknowledged as a “trusted adviser in the pharmaceutical space” by IAM Patent 1000.  In 2022, Daniel was nominated for UK Practitioner of the Year (Patent & Trademark Attorney Firms) by Managing IP.

Before entering the profession, Daniel studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He specialised in biochemistry, organic chemistry and molecular biology, and carried out research into the mechanisms of platelet activation in human blood. He also spent a long summer at Yale University investigating the genetics of protein trafficking in yeast.

MSci and MA Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge) Chartered Patent Attorney European Patent Attorney Patent Attorney Litigator European Patent Litigator