People

David Spinner

Partner | Patent Attorney

After working as in-house counsel at Novartis Pharma AG in Switzerland, David joined our firm in 2014, becoming a Director in 2018 and a Partner in 2019. He is a Chartered UK and European patent attorney and started his career at another private practice firm. He has a degree in Virology from The University of Warwick.

David enjoys utilising his experience as an in-house attorney to provide a perspective on the client’s experience. He is especially sensitive to the needs of the client and to adapting our way of working to suit a particular client’s requirements. Since joining us, David has developed relationships with a range of different clients, ranging from new start-ups, through SMEs based in the UK and abroad, up to multinational organisations. He is always conscious of the client’s goals and resources and he is valued by clients for his creative thinking and responsive approach.

Historically, much of David’s work has been in the antibody field (including work on the marketed blockbusters Cimzia® and Lucentis®, as well as background antibody technology). He also has experience in the fields of general protein therapeutics, vaccines, bioinformatics, and delivery devices across various therapeutic areas including ophthalmology, neuroscience, and musculoskeletal diseases.

David has a wealth of professional skills including drafting, prosecution, opposition, and appeal. In addition, he has provided advice on regulatory exclusivity, SPCs and paediatric extensions, as well as contractual matters (both negotiations and drafting). David also has European IP litigation experience, including before the UK High Court and the CJEU.

David is now heavily involved in gene manipulation technologies, using antisense RNA and CRISPR. He is leading our efforts on behalf of a multinational company to secure granted patents for their innovations in relation to CRISPR, pursuing a creative approach to managing their portfolio of patent applications and collaborating with colleagues to defend the granted patents from opposition.