Sr. Director, Intellectual Property Lead

CSL Plasma•Summit, NJ

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Intellectual Property Lead will have significant responsibility and impact, reporting to the General Counsel, Seqirus. This role will be instrumental in forming strategic partnerships with respective business leads/TA leads. The lead will oversee the global management of intellectual property matters, including patents, trademarks, copyright, contentious IP matters, regulatory exclusivities, and other IP rights. They will provide strategic guidance to advance IP assets and create commercial business value, security, and confidence. The role is integral to developing, defending, and enforcing Seqirus’ global patent and trademark portfolio, developing and enforcing the Seqirus’ Regulatory exclusivities’ portfolio, and ensuring compliance with intellectual property laws to support broader business objectives. The lead will also manage and support all IP aspects of deals executed by Seqirus and partner with business stakeholders on life cycle management initiatives involving IP. This is a hybrid role, offering a combination of onsite and remote work.

Requirements

Master’s degree in life sciences discipline (chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology) or a related field, preferably a PhD, or equivalent experience in scientific research.
Qualified Patent Attorney or IP lawyer admitted to practice in the US, Europe or Australia or equivalent legal qualifications and experience in Intellectual Property.
At least 12 years' post-qualification experience in Intellectual Property.
At least 5 years of experience with life science technologies and operations of in-house IP teams with a background in a technical field relevant to Seqirus.
Experience managing or supervising IP litigation (e.g., patent and/or trademark disputes, oppositions, and related proceedings), including instructing and overseeing external counsel.
Proven experience in managing an in-house IP team, preferably in pharmaceutical or biotech field.
Proven experience in due diligence, life cycle management, IP challenges and/or negotiations.

Nice To Haves

Experience with trademark matters (e.g., clearance and use advice, portfolio strategy, filings/maintenance managed via outside counsel, and enforcement or dispute resolution) is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the Seqirus IP function, managing a team of patent and trademark professionals and technical specialists supporting products, platform technologies, and innovation pipelines.
Provide strategic oversight of IP litigation and contentious matters relating to Seqirus products, including coordination of strategy, evidence, and settlement positions with internal stakeholders and external counsel across key jurisdictions.
Provide guidance and high-level oversight on trademark and brand protection strategy for Seqirus products, including clearance and use counseling, coordination of filings and maintenance with external counsel, and potential enforcement actions and disputes.
Develop, manage, and deliver on IP strategy for Seqirus, including relating to clinical development, commercial activities, parallel import, exclusivities (regulatory data exclusivity, orphan drug exclusivity, pediatric exclusivity, PTE/SPC), labelling, life cycle management, country support, communications, patent listings, and LoE preparedness.
Oversee and support the prosecution and lead defense of Seqirus intellectual property, including the identification and safeguarding of inventions relating to Seqirus products and activities, and management of IP portfolio with respect to pending applications and granted IP rights taking into account national and international law and guidelines.
Act as a key business partner for senior leadership, commercial and R&D divisions in assessing and leading and strategically managing potential IP challenges relating to Seqirus development and commercial products.
Provide strategic lead, oversight, and input for IP disputes, including IP office challenges as well as court litigations (infringement and revocation lawsuits) relating to Seqirus products; advising Seqirus General Counsel.
Lead and support IP aspects of Seqirus' deals, including licensing, collaborations, partnerships, supply and distribution agreements and M&A.
Drive cross-functional collaboration across R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Clinical, Manufacturing, Strategy, and Legal.
Manage external counsel relationships and direct strategy for disputes, oppositions, litigations, and enforcement matters.