Elisabeth Downey

Elisabeth is a chemist with expertise across analytical, applied, process and materials chemistry. She has experience in both industry and academia, developing advanced materials and manufacturing processes. Having worked in the start-up sector, she has first-hand knowledge of the challenges involved in turning lab-scale discoveries into industrial-scale commercial products.

Obtaining broad patent protection for materials science and industrial process innovations often requires the use of functional features or parameters. Elisabeth is experienced in this area and spends much of her time drafting and prosecuting patent applications defined by these features.

She works with a range of clients, from academic founders to large corporations. Her practice is centred on developing intellectual property (IP) strategies that not only support the business at its current stage but also enable the growth of the company and its technology. This approach requires a clear technical understanding of scaling technologies, such as materials and chemical process innovations, and the business models likely to be used.

Elisabeth has a passion for cleantech and climate technologies, areas she believes chemists are underrepresented in, despite their central role in improving manufacturing practices and developing sustainable materials that drive the green transition. Bringing these technologies to market is complex and often requires a company to align with existing public infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. Elisabeth has experience creating IP strategies that work around, or even with, these systems to set cleantech companies up for success.  

She also works closely with investors to deliver IP due diligence reports, particularly in the cleantech sector.

Elisabeth is an active member of cleantech networks in the Nordic region and often runs IP strategy workshops and training sessions.