ir. Delphine Debruyne, PhD

Delphine Debruyne holds a Master of Science in Bioscience Engineering: Cell and Gene Biotechnology and holds a PhD in Medical Sciences both from the University of Ghent, Belgium. Her PhD was obtained at the laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Marc Bracke.

Delphine joined De Clercq & Partners in 2010, and in July 2014, she qualified as a European Patent Attorney. Delphine successfully obtained the Certificate on Patent Litigation in Europe from Politecnico di Milano. She has been registered as a representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

Areas of practice

• Drafting and prosecution of European and PCT patent applications
• Drafting and prosecution of national patent applications
• Oppositions and appeal proceedings before the EPO
• Opinions regarding patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement and validity of intellectual property rights
• Oral proceedings before the EPO in examination and opposition and before the Boards of Appeal
• Patent literature searching and analysis
• IP due diligence
• Portfolio management, advice and strategy
• General and strategic advice in IP matters

Languages

Delphine is a native Dutch speaker, is very fluent in English and has a working knowledge of French, Spanish and German.

Competences

Delphine has general scientific knowledge and expertise in life sciences related fields and, more specifically, in biotechnology, including antibody technology, gene therapy and metabolic engineering, cancer biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, (molecular) pharmacology, nutraceuticals, food technology, plant protection and diagnostic methods and tools, but also in environmental sciences such as waste treatment and valorisation.