Andrew Fearnside

Based in our Manchester office, Andrew handles patent matters in the electronic, electrical, software and mechanical fields, as well as designs work. Andrew's specialist technical area is photonics and he has managed large patent portfolios for leading UK university photonics research departments and spin-out companies, as well as international optical technology companies. Active wider engagement with innovators in this field includes speaking at Institute of Physics conferences on the topic of IP and photonics as well as publishing in a leading scientific journal: "Patenting Photonics Research", Nature Photonics 1, 357 - 359 (2007).

Andrew also has particular experience in managing patent applications in the UK and abroad for top-secret inventions in the defence sector for a leading international defence technology company. A very convoluted process requiring close coordination with patent offices, government departments and embassies.

Before entering the profession in 2001, Andrew was awarded a PhD in theoretical atomic physics in 1996, after which he spent time conducting postdoctoral research into quantum optics at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich before joining the UK Intellectual Property Office as a Patent Examiner. Andrew joined Appleyard Lees in 2008 having qualified as a European Patent Attorney and Chartered Patent Attorney while working for a firm of patent and trade mark attorneys in Manchester.