Dr. Claire Gregg

Claire's practice involves assisting clients to obtain patent protection for innovations in the chemical and pharmaceutical fields, including securing extensions of patent term for pharmaceutical patents. She also conducts patent oppositions and procedural hearings before the Australian and New Zealand Offices, provides advice in relation to patent strategy, validity and infringement, and assists in patent litigation.

Claire began her scientific career at Flinders University studying 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 of the University of Melbourne, before she took up a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University in the United States. Her postdoctoral research focused primarily on hit-to-lead optimisation of small molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions in highly validated cancer targets, as part of a multidisciplinary team in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute.

Claire commenced training as a patent attorney in 2013 at a large patent attorney firm in Sydney, and gained further experience in contentious patent matters at a top-tier commercial law firm before joining Davies Collison Cave in 2020. Claire is a Fellow, Council Member and Director of the Institute of Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA), the peak professional body for patent and trade mark attorneys in Australia. She currently co-convenes the Membership and Member Services Committee, and is an active member of the Patents Committee and Media and Communications Committee. She also previously co-convened the Future Directors and Public Relations Committees, and was a founding co-convenor of the “young” IPTA (YIPTA) committee dedicated to engaging and supporting 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 the founder of IP Encompass, a collaborative partnership between several IP organisation across Australia and New Zealand dedicated to promoting equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in the Trans-Tasman IP community.

Claire has been awarded the prestigious John McLaren Emmerson QC Essay Prize (formerly the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) Prize) three times: first prize in 2014 for her essay on the patentability of isolated nucleic acids in Australia; second prize in 2017 for her essay exploring whether Swiss-style claims should be eligible for patent term extension; and first prize in 2019 for her essay on Australia’s controversial ‘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.