FPA Patent Attorneys is pleased to announce the promotion of Carol Burnton to Principal, effective 1 March 2024.
Carol has made an immense contribution to the Chemistry and Biology group, in particular in the area of mentoring and supporting the growing group of attorneys and patent scientists in the team.
“Carol’s promotion to Principal is an important and significant milestone in the life of both FPA and the Chemistry and Biology group,” says FPA’s Managing Principal, John Dower. “She will continue to be a great support to the business in one of its fastest-growing areas, as well as taking on a substantial leadership role.”
Carol is keenly interested in technologies in which chemistry and biology interact, such as in medicinal and pharmaceutical sciences, food technology, cosmetics, and clean technologies such as biofuels.
Furthering her expertise in this area, Carol qualified as a Cosmetic Chemist and is now a member of the Australian Society of Cosmetic Chemists. Her expertise was recently reconfirmed when she was a winner of the Lawyer’s Monthly award for Food, Drug and Cosmetics Law – Australia, for the second year running.
Carol brings a unique skill set to her practice, drawing from both biological and chemical laboratory work, as well as her comprehensive legal training with a top-tier firm. In this regard, Carol applies her legal skills in drafting and prosecuting patent applications and providing strategic patenting advice to her local clients. Her legal training has also been used extensively working on contentious patent matters and providing patent attorney support to litigators.
An outstanding student, Carol’s thesis on cellular cytoplasmic responses to double-stranded DNA received the award for the best honours thesis in biochemistry in 2007. Carol’s research resulted in co-authorship of a paper, which was published in the highly ranked, peer-reviewed journal Science in 2009.
“This promotion is a culmination of my varied and dynamic patent attorney career – all of which has been at FPA Patent Attorneys. I have loved the combination of assisting to advance Australian and New Zealand technology while applying myself to high profile contentious patent work. I hope to continue to do this with the amazing FPA team for years to come,” concludes Carol Burnton.
