Claire Gregg
Claire’s practice focuses on assisting clients to obtain and enforce patent protection for innovations in the chemical and pharmaceutical fields. Her work includes securing extensions of patent term for pharmaceutical patents, conducting patent oppositions and procedural hearings before the Australian and New Zealand Patent Offices, and advising on patent strategy, validity and infringement. Claire also plays an integral role in Australian patent litigation matters, working closely with legal teams on complex, high‑value disputes.
Claire began her scientific career at Flinders University, where she completed a Bachelor of Technology (Forensic & Analytical Chemistry) followed by a Bachelor of Science with first class honours, for which she was awarded the University Medal. She then completed a PhD in organic chemistry, focusing on the total synthesis and structural elucidation of complex biologically active natural products. Claire’s research in synthetic organic chemistry continued at the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute at the University of Melbourne, before she undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University in the United States. Her postdoctoral research focused on hit‑to‑lead optimisation of small ‑molecule inhibitors of protein–protein interactions in highly validated cancer targets, as part of a multidisciplinary team collaborating with the US National Cancer Institute.
Claire commenced training as a patent attorney in 2013 at a large patent attorney firm in Sydney, and subsequently gained experience in contentious patent matters at a top‑tier commercial law firm. She joined Davies Collison Cave in 2020. Claire is a Fellow, Vice President and Director of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA), the peak professional body for patent and trade mark attorneys in Australia. She currently co‑convenes the Patents and Plant Breeders Rights Committee, and the Media and Communications Committee, and has previously co‑convened several other committees, including the Membership and Member Services Committee, Future Directions Committee, and Public Relations Committee. Claire was also a founding co‑convenor of the “young” IPTA (YIPTA) Committee, which was established to engage and support junior members of the patent and trade mark attorney profession.
In addition, Claire is a Director of the Global IP Alliance (GLIPA), which promotes IP education and awareness, diversity and inclusion, and IP ecosystem collaboration worldwide. She is also an active member of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), where she actively contributes to the Study and Work Committee on Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals (CET5).
Claire has been awarded the prestigious John McLaren Emmerson QC Essay Prize (formerly the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) Prize) on three occasions: first prize in 2014 for her essay on the patentability of isolated nucleic acids in Australia; second prize in 2017 for her essay examining the eligibility of Swiss‑style claims for patent term extension; and first prize in 2019 for her essay on Australia’s ‘best method’ requirement. She has also been awarded a Certificate in Patent Law and Global Public Health (“PatentX”) from Harvard Law School and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
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