Mark Carmody

Director and Patent Attorney

An experienced and accomplished Patent Attorney with over 13 years’ experience, I have been a member of the PurdyLucey team since 2010.

I am a qualified European Patent Attorney (EPA), Irish Registered Patent Agent (RPA), a European Trade Mark and Design Attorney (CTMA) and an Irish Registered Trade Mark Agent (RTMA).

Further to completing my studies in University College Cork, where I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry in 2001, I also worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in UCC in the areas of genomic imprinting and the apoptotic pathways in Retinitis Pigmentosa. My research was published in peer-reviewed journals and I also presented my work at conferences in Ireland and abroad.

Because of this scientific background, my expertise lies in drafting and prosecuting Irish, UK and European patent applications in the fields of Life Science (Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Genetics, Biomarkers), Food and Dairy Science, Material Science, Medical Devices and Mechanical Devices.

On a regular basis, I assist Irish, American, Australian and Canadian clients with patent filing strategies, prosecution and contentious issues including patent infringement, invalidity and freedom to operate opinions of European patents; and European prosecution of Australian, American, Canadian, Japanese, South African, Korean, Irish and UK-originating PCT applications.

Before joining Purdy Lucey, I worked for two years with a Dublin-based Intellectual Property Firm and for three years in a Japanese Intellectual Property Law firm in Osaka, Japan, where I was the recipient of the firm’s Outstanding Valued Employee of the Year in 2007.

During my time working in Japan, I was involved in drafting scientific and legal briefs for high-profile litigation proceedings in the Japanese High Court between two well-known large pharmaceutical companies in the area of anaesthetics.

I am Chairman of the Law Committee of the Association of Patent and Trade Mark Agents of Ireland, and is also part-time lecturer at the Law Society of Ireland for their postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law, and for the Certificate in Intellectual Property Rights Management. In addition, I am a student member of the UK Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

Outside of Intellectual Property, I have a passionate interest in wildlife and am a highly-regarded and award-winning wildlife photographer, having had photographs featured in international and regional magazines, periodicals and numerous books. I have published four books on Ireland’s birds entitled Shorebirds of Ireland (2009), Freshwater Birds of Ireland (2011), The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide (2013) and Ireland’s Garden Birds (2017) (all Collins Press, Cork), which showcases a selection of my photography.