Spotlight on

BioProcessing & Industrial BioTech

Making bioproducts is far from easy, often requiring an in-depth understanding of cellular culture dynamics, cell biology & metabolism, fluid dynamics, process engineering, bioreactor design, biochemical and dynamic aspects of purification processes, process control, and data driven modelling. This work is absolutely crucial, without bioprocessing there is no product!  Conversely, improvements in any aspect of bioprocessing can have enormous value as even small productivity or quality improvements to such high value products are impactful, and improvements can often apply to multiple products.  

Our advanced bioprocessing team has extensive experience obtaining and defending IP in this complex field, both in relation to upstream and downstream processes innovation. We have a multidisciplinary team that mirrors the complexity and diversity of technical expertise of our clients working in this field, including experts in cell biology and biochemistry and their specific implications to bioprocessing, traditional bioprocessing including running and optimising fermentation processes, data & AI driven analysis of bioprocesses including for monitoring, prediction and optimisation of bioprocesses, dynamical modelling of bioprocesses, process engineering, and bioreactor design. 

We work together across different technical fields to make sure that all aspects are properly considered, so that the value of your IP is maximised. We understand intimately the complex technical, practical and commercial realities of working in this high value, highly regulated industry. We have successfully defended high value patent portfolios in this field, as well as helped our clients navigate freedom to operate. We are experts in drafting for success in all aspects of upstream and downstream processes. 

Read our Blogs

UPC Weekly - Damages and added matter at the UPC

UPC Weekly - Damages and added matter at the UPC

by Matthew Naylor

2025 Week 3 The UPC has most definitely kicked into gear. Each week there are increasing numbers of decisions, orders and news items to review. Over the end of year period, there have been many ...

The power of Bioprocess Engineering

The power of Bioprocess Engineering

by Anja Koller

Microorganisms wield the power to revolutionise industries and address global challenges. These "little factories" are central to the production of a diverse array of high-value products across ...

Quantum and the law - a new special report

Quantum and the law - a new special report

by Joanna Smith

We are delighted to release our latest report Quantum and the law. View the report here.

UPC Weekly - Alexion v Samsung & Amgen – Patentee’s attempted U-turn on claim interpretation foiled by UPC Court of Appeal

UPC Weekly - Alexion v Samsung & Amgen – Patentee’s attempted U-turn on claim interpretation foiled by UPC Court of Appeal

by Eliot Ward

2025 Week 2 Tailoring one’s claim interpretation for the jurisdiction at hand can be a canny way of maximizing your patent’s footprint. You can argue a narrow interpretation during grant and validity ...

Veganuary: can you reference the animal counterpart in the branding of your vegan product?

Veganuary: can you reference the animal counterpart in the branding of your vegan product?

by Rebecca Anderson-Smith

From This Isn't Bacon Plant-Based Rashers, to Violife Smoky Cheddar Flavour Slices, a quick glance around the supermarket will make it very clear that many producers of substitutes for animal ...

UPC Weekly - UPC transparency by numbers

UPC Weekly - UPC transparency by numbers

by Matthew Naylor

2025 Week 1 How easy is it to get hold of documents from UPC cases? The easy answer “it depends” is not very helpful. This week we weigh up all of the cases to date where public access to the UPC ...

Learn More

Bioprocessing & Industrial Biotechnology - Protecting Innovation

With the development of increasingly advanced therapeutics and other products - from vaccines and cell therapies to food products and biofuels - bioprocessing and industrial biotechnology are becoming more important than ever.

Developing and scaling up biotechnological processes can be technically challenging and require significant investment in research and development.

Patent protection enables to secure these advancements and creates a competitive advantage for the innovators in this field.  It  is no surprise that patents covering platform technologies in biotech manufacturing are highly valuable and often challenged  by third parties.

Our team has significant  experience in drafting and defending bioprocessing patents.  We have successfully defended patents protecting antibody manufacturing and processing methods, including in multi-opponent EPO opposition proceedings.

We understand the challenges associated with developing bioprocessing and manufacturing methods.  Inventions in this field often lie on great technical stories that involve creative solutions to technical problems that only arise, or become particularly acute during large scale industrial processes.  For example, the recognition of a previously unnoticed problem during early-stage development, such as the discovery that certain cell culture components are the cause for problematic visual characteristics in the bioproduct, or that surprising loss of intact antibody yield during scaled-up manufacture is due to specific redox reactions in the cell culture fluid following fermentation, or that purification methods successfully used at laboratory scale introduce undesirable impurities into product that needs to be overcome when purification is scaled-up.  The research leading to the recognition of these problems and the steps taken to solve them in an imaginative way may form the basis of a strong inventive story which is worthy of patent protection, but one where an understanding of bioprocessing is needed to properly draft the strong patent applications.

Forward Magazines Overlapping 8

Mewburn Ellis

FORWARD MAGAZINE

Mewburn Ellis Forward is a biannual publication that celebrates the best of innovation and exploration. Through its pages we hope to inform and entertain, but also to encourage discussion about the most compelling developments taking place in the scientific and entrepreneurial world. Along the way, we’ll engage with the IP challenges that international organisations face every day.