James Egleton

James is a European and UK Patent Attorney based in our London office. James has a technical background in disciplines including medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, pharmacology, cell biology, photochemistry and computational chemistry, which allows him to work effectively at the interface between chemistry and biology.

James has particular experience with drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the fields of small molecule therapeutics, new formulations of existing pharmaceuticals, drug delivery technology, chromatography and polymer chemistry. He also has experience in defending and opposing European patents in post-grant proceedings before the European Patent Office, and in advising on IP-related aspects of due diligence and freedom to operate.

James works with a broad range of clients, from startups and university tech transfer offices to large multinationals. He particularly enjoys coordinating the global prosecution of patent applications, and developing a streamlined approach to obtaining grant of an application in multiple jurisdictions. Through work on such portfolios, James has become familiar with patent prosecution in several countries in which applications are less commonly filed, particularly in Asia and South America.

James also has extensive knowledge of the post-grant validation requirements for European patents before national Patent Offices, and he regularly assists clients in all areas of technology at this stage of the patent life cycle.

James joined J A Kemp in 2015, after completing a DPhil at Oxford University through a prestigious Oxford Cancer Research Centre prize studentship. His doctoral research focussed on the development of colorimetric and fluorescent small molecule probes for the detection and quantification of a breast cancer biomarker within cellular samples. He became an associate in 2020.

James is recommended by The Legal 500 where clients comment that he “can do it all and is fantastic to work with”.