Beatrice McDonald is the Managing Director of McDonald Intellectual Property Limited offering consultancy in the areas of innovation and intellectual property management.

Bea is a European Patent Attorney and qualified US Patent Agent. She graduated with a degree in Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin before completing a PhD in Pharmacology and Cell Biology at University College London and a Wellcome Trust postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After beginning her IP career as a Patent Agent at Human Genome Sciences Inc., Bea went on to hold various in-house and private practice positions in the US and the UK including Global IP Manager at Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

Bea has consistently designed and delivered appropriate and cost effective IP strategies to meet commercial objectives.  She has built and managed global patent portfolios in the life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields with particular focus on genomics, subunit and viral vaccines, antibody technologies, medical devices, diagnostics and peptide therapeutics.  

In addition to obtaining and managing patents Bea has considerable experience in contentious proceedings including patent oppositions (EPO) and interferences (USPTO) and providing IP diligence support to negotiation and investment teams as well as advising on inventorship, patentability and freedom to operate issues.

Additionally, Bea has presented at international patent conferences on various topics including the Unified Patent Court, "Bolar" and research use exemptions from patent infringement, patents and competition law and patentability of human genes.