Overview:

Fran is a part-qualified trainee patent attorney with a background in mathematics and machine learning, holding a first-class BSc in Mathematics from the University of Warwick and an MSc with distinction in Machine learning and Artificial intelligence (AI) from the University of Birmingham. They have experience in the drafting and prosecution of patent applications in the fields of AI, telecommunication standards, and other computer-implemented inventions. Fran particularly enjoys working with inventions the field of medical imaging, having experience in developing AI to reconstruct accelerated MRI scans.

Prior to joining Barker Brettell, Fran was a trainee patent attorney at another firm, where they gained experience in prosecuting patent applications in various technical fields. Fran also undertook research in bifurcation theory and completed a research project on computing the bifurcation diagram of a highly non-linear monotonic vector field on a torus.

Experience:

  • Assisted with the prosecution of patent applications at the EPO, WIPO, and UKIPO. Fran has further experience in providing instructions for prosecution in Japan, USA, China, and other territories
  • Has experience in providing freedom to operate opinions and non-infringement opinions for both patents and registered/community designs
  • Undertook a master’s project that involved reconstructing accelerated MRI scans using modular encoder-decoder convolutional neural networks