Candi Soames D.Phil
Director
European Patent Attorney
Chartered UK Patent Attorney
University of Oxford, M.Sc., Biochemistry
University of Oxford, D.Phil., Immunology
Candi Soames graduated from Oxford University with an MA and D. Phil in Molecular Immunology. She worked on various aspects of some of the molecular interactions within the Complement cascade of the Innate immune system. After spending some time as a post-doctoral research fellow working on mechanisms of signal transduction and protein-domain interactions in immune cells at Yamanouchi in Oxford, Candi entered the patent profession. Prior to becoming a Director of her own firm, Candi previously has been a Partner in a major UK private practice firm, worked in house and also in an international law firm.
One of Candi’s strengths lies in getting patents granted. We recognise that every patent application must be prosecuted and that patent prosecution is the most important aspect of patent advocacy. Rather than delegating prosecution to trainees, Candi brings her own experience and talents to this field. As a result of her extensive scientific experience, she has a particularly clear grasp of technical concepts. This gives her the ability to see her way through the thickets of prior art which can ensnare an invention, and to focus claims on the aspects of the invention which stand the best chance of obtaining commercially valuable protection. She has a very high success rate in dealing with difficult cases. She especially enjoys the challenges of arguing cases in immunology and medical technologies and has obtained grant of important patent portfolios in these areas.
Of course, she is no stranger to oppositions, and regularly argues cases before the EPO boards and advising on third party and strategy issues. She is also a standing member of the UK CIPA Biotechnology Committee.
Candi has a passion for horses and cooking and spends her valuable spare time indulging in these areas when her twin baby boys allow her to!
Selected Technical Publications
Soames C. J. et al (1996). Biochem J. 315, 523-531. Prediction from sequence comparisons of residues involved in the interaction of complement C3b with factor H.
Soames, C. J and Sim, R. B. (1996). J. Immunol. The interaction between complement factors H, I and C3b.
Soames, C. J, Steinkasserer, A; Willis A, D and Sim, R. B (1996). Eur. J. Immunol. (1996) The binding site on complement factor H for C3b.
Soames, C. J and Kellie, S (1996). J. Biol. Chem, Identification by deletion analysis of SH3 binding sites on the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP).
Finan, P. M and Soames, C. J. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 26291-26295. Identification of regions of Wiskott-Alrich Syndrome Protein responsible for association with selected SH3 domains.
Selected Speaking Engagements
“Antibody Therapeutics and IP: What’s the state of play?” Sole speaker, European Antibody Congress, Geneva, Switzerland, November 10 – 12, 2014.
“Protecting Antibody Based Therapeutics and IP: What’s the state of play?” Sole speaker, Monoclonal Antibody Congress, London, United Kingdom, September 22 – 23, 2014.
“Strategies for Maximising Patent Life Cycles”, co-speaker Biotech & Pharmaceutical Patenting Conference, co-speaker, Munich, Germany, February 16 – 17, 2011.
“The Changing Requirements for Inventive Step in Europe,” co-speaker, 16th Forum (European Edition) on Biotech Patenting: Legal, Tactical and Practical Strategies for Protecting and Leveraging Your Portfolio, Munich, Germany, June 16 – 17, 2009.
“Patent protection via epitope mapping,” co-speaker, 2nd Annual Recombinant Antibodies Conference, 22-23 January 2009.