Biography: Life Sciences

Sally joined Bird & Bird in September 2006 as a partner in the intellectual property group, based in London.

After studying law at Manchester University and then the College of Law, she completed her training at Herbert Smith and qualified in 1988. After a period as a solicitor at Herbert Smith, Sally spent 11 years working in-house, firstly as senior legal adviser at ICI/Zeneca and latterly as legal director of Novartis UK, where she was responsible for all legal matters for the Novartis Group within the UK with particular responsibility for intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance and competition law compliance. She was head of IP and life sciences at Eversheds LLP before joining Bird & Bird.

Sally has gained a wealth of experience, with an emphasis on working with businesses at the cutting edge of research and technology, whose intellectual property is therefore of prime importance. Her in-house experience has given her significant insight into the need to give pragmatic and commercial advice.

As a transactional IP lawyer, Sally has been involved in providing advice in relation to the protection and exploitation of a full range of intellectual property rights, from design rights to patents, trademarks, copyright and confidentiality across a range of jurisdictions, both in stand alone transactions and in conjunction with her corporate colleagues as part of an acquisition, divestment or investment activity. Sally provides a full range of IP commercial advice and support to her clients, including licensing, partnering and exploitation agreements, research, development and marketing collaborations. She also frequently advises clients on regulatory and "freedom to operate" matters, and manages significant due diligence matters.

Sally is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on a range of IP-related subjects, particularly in relation to regulatory, licensing and exploitation matters. This year Sally took part in an influential workshop organised by UNITAID, an international facility for the purchase of drugs against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The workshop focused on the determination of licensing terms and conditions for the Medicines Patent Pool Initiative. Sally was one of eight pharma licensing experts drawn from around the world to work together with representatives from UNITAID and WIPO at the workshop.

She is described as an 'expert' in regulatory and life sciences in the most recent Global Life Sciences Review. Sally's most recent book The EU Guide to Pharmaceutical Regulatory Law a loose-leaf, 800 page publication which will be updated annually, was published in June 2010.

This year Sally was named as an expert in IAM Licensing 250: The World's Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers which provides an in-depth look at the key IP licensing issues around the world with detailed research on leading patent and technology lawyers in over 20 major jurisdictions.

The publication quotes that 'Sally Shorthose is a renowned transactional IP expert. She advises on a full range of commercial IP agreements, including licensing, and has long advised businesses right at the forefront of technological development.'