Richard Grant ■

Registered Patent Attorney

Richard is a Registered Australian and New Zealand Patent Attorney. He holds a BSc (Hons.) and PhD in organic chemistry from University of Sydney.  His Honours research related to steroid synthesis, while his PhD was in the field of organic photochemistry.  Following completion of his PhD, he worked at Imperial College London on heterocyclic chemistry and was awarded Diploma of Imperial College.  Richard further holds an MBA specialising in technology management from Deakin University, and a Master of Intellectual Property from University of Technology Sydney.

Richard’s commercial career has an astounding breadth, ranging from working at CSIRO’s Division of Applied Organic Chemistry on mechanisms of free radical polymerisation, through working on water purification and novel separation membranes while acting as Chief Chemist at the startup Memtec Ltd, to developing products and technology platforms for silicone products for Dow Corning Corporation.

Richard started working in intellectual property in 2003, and he was promoted to Principal in Australia’s largest patent firm in 2013, where he remained until 2019. As a patent attorney, Richard has worked with a wide range of clients, including universities, government research organisations, large and small companies and individual inventors, as well as representing foreign attorneys before the Australian Patent Office. He has dealt with a very wide range of chemical inventions, including drug discovery, polymer composites, fabrication of electronic devices and water treatment, to mention just a few.

Over his career Richard has chaired the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) NSW Polymer Group, as well as the UTS Materials Science course advisory committee, for several years.  Outside of the profession, Richard is a well-known travelholic and wine buff, with a deep love for Chinese culture and food, having lived in Shanghai in the early 2000s.