Carol Johns PhD

Carol has more than 20 years’ experience supporting life sciences industries in private practice and in-house. With her roots as a US qualified patent attorney and registered US lawyer, Carol moved to New Zealand in 2019. She will be registered as a Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney (AU and NZ) in early 2024.

Predominantly, Carol has supported global biotech, biopharma and pharma companies as well as local clients including universities and research institutes.  In the US, Carol spent time in both private practice (with nearly 10 years at US firm Kilpatrick Townsend) and in-house at Roche Diagnostics¸ a leading global biopharma company. Carol comes to Pearce IP having most recently been employed by AJ Park, and subsequently Spruson & Ferguson, in New Zealand.

With a PhD in Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Carol’s practice focuses on biopharmaceuticals and biotechnology including antibodies, CAR-T therapies, microbiomics, vaccines, anti-virals, biologics, medical devices, diagnostics, plants (including transgenics) and agricultural products.

Carol’s life sciences patent experience is deep and broad.   She has extensive experience on all aspects of attorney work including global portfolio management, drafting and prosecution, freedom-to operate opinions, infringement and validity opinions, strategic advice, and contentious challenges.

Carol enjoys supporting the Pearce IP litigation team, and has extensive experience in running contentious disputes in Australia, New Zealand, the US, UK, Germany, and before the EPO.  She loves learning about new scientific advances, and helping clients decide how best to commercialise their ideas. Carol also enjoys testing the strength of invalidity, infringement, and freedom to operate arguments, and providing straightforward, commercially relevant, advice.