Support for Commercialisation

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A crucial part of our wider provision, specialists with particular focuses on NHS Tech Transfer, Patent and Licensing Management and our own in-house legal team support a wide range of our teams to enhance our operations.

Support for Commercialisation consists of the following teams:

Patent and Licence Management

The Imperial Patent and Licence Management team oversees the protection, commercialization, and licensing of intellectual property for Imperial College innovations.

Patent and Licence Management

  • Dr Laura Guida

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    Dr Laura Guida Associate Director of Commercialisation Support

    What can I help with?

    • General IP and commercialisation queries
    • Guidance on funder IP terms and support with funder reporting
    • Lead on post-deal management and point of contact for licensed patents
    • General IP due diligence and patent formalities queries
    • Guidance on revenue distributions for third-party contributions

  • Dr Dario Colombo

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    Dr Dario Colombo Head of Intellectual Property Due Diligence

    What can I help with?

    • Lead on Intellectual Property Due Diligence team to deliver a portfolio of cases, while prioritising cases
    • Provide specialist IP and Due Diligence support for complex projects
    • Advise on strategies to resolve IP encumbrances prior commercialisaiton of technologies
    • Provide training in IP and Due Diligence

  • Ana Maria Bejarano Gomez

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    Ana Maria Bejarano Gomez Intellectual Property Due Diligence Officer

    What can I help with?

    • Advice on encumbrances for the commercialisation or abandonment of different IP rights
    • Assist with Intellectual Property-related questions for specific cases, including trademark management
    • Advice on attributable portion calculations for funders' and research partners' revenue shares
    • Draft and execute Intellectual Property-related agreements

  • Joanne Sarao

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    Joanne Sarao License and IP Due Diligence Executive

    What can I help with?

    • Advise on financial obligations and diligence provisions of license agreements
    • Provide training on recording contractual obligations in Salesforce.
    • Advise on third-party rights to ensure that IP due diligence priorities are aligned with the commercial priorities
    • Assist with completion and drafting of revenue sharing letters and consents to reflect appropriate attributable contribution and revenue distribution models for third party funders.
    • Responsible for the institutional return of commercialisation and IP reports to funders including iEdison, an online relational database designed around the reporting requirements of the Bayh-Dole Act (US federal funded grants)

  • Dr Janna Potticary

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    Dr Janna Potticary Patent and Formalities Officer

    What can I help with?

    • Advice on patent formality requirements and management of obtaining signatures on patent formality documents
    • Provide specialist guidance in patent management
    • Support with patent prosecution deadlines and renewals
    • Provide historical communications regarding past patent filings, e.g. emails and documents

  • Kevin Tsang

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    Kevin Tsang Intellectual Property Due Diligence Coordinator

    What can I help with?

    • Advise on financial obligations and diligence provisions of license agreements
    • Provide training on recording contractual obligations in Salesforce.
    • Advise on third-party rights to ensure that IP due diligence priorities are aligned with the commercial priorities
    • Assist with completion and drafting of revenue sharing letters and consents to reflect appropriate attributable contribution and revenue distribution models for third party funders.
    • Responsible for the institutional return of commercialisation and IP reports to funders including iEdison, an online relational database designed around the reporting requirements of the Bayh-Dole Act (US federal funded grants)

  • Joanne Vango

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    Joanne Vango Intellectual Property Due Diligence Officer

    What I can help with?

    • Assist you with any Due Diligence enquiries on documentation you have been asked to complete, to summarise your findings and support you in flagging legal risks if appropriate
    • Aid with negotiations if required with third parties to enable to Due Diligence Officer to draft an IP assignment agreement that is favourable to IC;
    • Be involved in “kick off meetings” re the potential and appropriate vehicle for commercialisation in specific cases that have been allocated to the individual Due Diligence Officer.

  • Chloe Rosenfeld

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    Chloe Rosenfeld Intellectual Property Due Diligence Officer

    What can I help with?

    • Conduct Intellectual Property Due Diligence on specific cases 
    • Assist with IP- related queries for specific cases, including patent queries and queries regarding encumbrances for commercialization
    • Draft and execut of IP-related agreements and assisting with associated queries

In-house lawyers

We provide legal expertise that underpins Imperial’s partnerships, commercialisation and venture activity. Our team advises on contracts, IP, governance and risk to enable secure, efficient collaboration. We work closely with researchers, partners and founders to structure deals that protect Imperial’s interests. Our goal is to deliver clear, pragmatic legal support that accelerates innovation and commercial outcomes.

In-house lawyers

  • Mark Fox

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    Mark Fox In-House Lawyer

    What can I help with?

    • Structuring, negotiating and executing the full spectrum of IP and commercialisation agreements — from licences and assignments to spinout formation documents — across engineering, medicine and natural sciences.

    • Building the frameworks that make commercialisation work at scale, including drafting policies, templates and SOPs, and overseeing IP contract managers, external counsel and paralegal teams.

  • Sophie Fages-Plantier

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    Sophie Fages-Plantier Contracts Manager (IP and Licensing)

    What can I help with?

    • Drafting of commercial agreements
    • Support dealing with negotiation for commercial agreements
    • Legal advice on Intellectual Property and contractual matters

NHS Technology Transfer

We support the translation of NHS-driven innovations into viable products, services and ventures. Our team helps clinicians and healthcare staff protect IP, shape commercial pathways and access partners. We connect NHS innovators with industry, investors and translational funding to accelerate adoption. Our goal is to turn frontline ideas into solutions that improve patient care across the health system.

NHS Technology Transfer

  • Manish Patel

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    Manish Patel Associate Director of NHS Technology Transfer

    What can I help with?

    • Innovation and IP services
    • IP strategy and advice
    • Commercialisation of healthcare projects
    • IP training

  • Catrin Owen

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    Catrin Owen NHS Technology Transfer Officer

    What can I help with?

    • Assisting with NHS innovation capture and guiding NHS staff through technology transfer, helping transform innovative concepts into practical healthcare solutions.  
    • Evaluating the potential of new healthcare technologies and supporting validation to ensure innovations meet clinical and commercial needs.
    • Support with identifying relevant funding opportunities for NHS projects and providing input on commercialisation/intellectual property sections to support successful applications.

Spin outs

We help researchers turn high-potential ideas into investor-ready spinout companies.  Our team shapes venture strategy, supports founder formation and prepares teams for investment.  We connect new companies with investors, mentors, early customers and key commercial partners. Our goal is to build strong, scalable ventures that turn Imperial research into real-world impact.

Spin outs

  • Dr Neil Simrick

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    Dr Neil Simrick Head of Spinouts

    What can I help with?

    • Resident expert on the process of spinout formation, supporting the Commercialisation Teams by leading on best practice on all spinout formation matters.
    • Responsible for ensuring the spinout process enables the growth in the number of spinouts at Imperial as part of the university’s mission to create impact from its research
    • Responsible for the management of Imperial’s spinout equity portfolio
    • Lead on all post-formation matters relating to Imperial’s spinout portfolio

  • Marco Chan

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    Marco Chan Spinout Formations Officer

    What can I help with?

    • Supporting the Commercialisation Team within the Enterprise Division with the spinout formation process, in particular with on equity, shareholding and general corporate matters
    • Fosters  relationships as appropriate with external spinout legal providers
    • Supporting the Commercialisation Team within the Enterprise Division to ensure all aspects of company formation are undertaken correctly and in line with standard operating procedures
    • Post-formation spinout support
    • Tracking and monitoring of spinout company development