Lydia Topping
With a passion for chemistry and a strong interest in IP law, Lydia is working towards qualifying as a UK and European patent attorney. She combines her scientific knowledge with legal training to help ensure that new discoveries receive the recognition and protection they deserve.
Lydia is a chemist with a strong scientific foundation and growing expertise in intellectual property (IP).
She completed her PhD in chemistry at Loughborough University, where her research focused on developing cysteine-selective lanthanide tags for site-specific labelling of peptides and proteins. She also holds a BSc in medicinal chemistry from the University of Salford, where her final-year project explored small-molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment.
During her degree, she undertook an industrial internship at Cancer Research UK, contributing to a lead optimisation project within the chemistry team of the therapeutic discovery labs.
Her multidisciplinary research background spans synthetic organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and photophysical chemistry, providing her with a broad knowledge base that she now applies to her legal work.
- Drafting patent applications
- Global patent prosecution
- Writing research articles
Services
Industries
- PhD, Chemistry, Loughborough University
- BSc, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Salford
About Lydia
Experience
Areas of expertise
Qualifications
Testimonials
Awards
How We Live Our Values: Respect
As a trainee patent attorney, respect is something I really care about - it shapes how I work. I want the people around me to feel listened to, valued, and comfortable sharing their ideas. Whether I’m working on a case with colleagues, asking for help, or contributing to team discussions, I try to bring openness and encouragement to the table. I’ve found that when people feel respected, collaboration flows more naturally and the whole team benefits. I’m still learning every day, and I really appreciate the culture of support and knowledge-sharing around me.
I also enjoy volunteering at careers events and work experience days - t’s a chance to help students feel more confident and show them what a career in intellectual property can look like.
In My Own Words
While completing my PhD, I realised that although I loved chemistry, the lab was not a place I wanted to be in the long term. Around the same time, my research group was preparing to file a patent application, and I became fascinated by the complexities involved in making an invention patentable.
