Dominic prides himself on giving straight-forward, practical advice to clients to assist them in meeting their business objectives.

In terms of technical subject matter, Dominic handles cases across a broad range of mechanical-based technologies, including data acquisition and data processing from mechanical systems.

He has many years of experience in patent drafting and prosecution in the field of automotive technology, and has handled a variety of cases relating to different automotive parts such as engines, drivetrains, tyres, vehicle suspension systems, turbochargers, vehicle batteries and wireless charging systems for vehicles, among others.

In addition to his automotive work, he has a significant body of experience in patenting aerospace technologies, for example jet engines and control and propulsion systems for drones. Besides that, he has handled cases relating to medical devices, heating and cooling cycles and fuel cells.

Much of his work is before the European Patent Office (EPO), but he also handles a significant number of cases before the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO). He is experienced too in obtaining overseas patent protection, particularly in the US.

Sometimes a client’s patent is opposed by a competitor, and Dominic has experience of successfully defending his clients’ patents against attack in EPO opposition cases. Conversely, he has knocked out problematic competitor patents in oppositions. He is used to providing freedom to operate (FTO) opinions and validity opinions against third party patents, as well as using the UK-IPO’s validity opinions service.

As well as patent protection, Dominic has extensive experience in obtaining registered design protection for his clients in the UK, Europe-wide and further afield.

Dominic has a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Before joining Marks & Clerk he worked for Rolls-Royce Defence Aerospace in Bristol as an engineer on the Pegasus engines for the Harrier family of aircraft.