Victor Argaet

Victor specialises in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in all areas of biotechnology including immunology, cell therapies, stem cell technologies, antibody technologies, molecular biology, bioinformatics, genetically modified organisms including genetically modified animals and plants, diagnostics and plant innovations. He is experienced in conducting patent oppositions including involvement in oppositions before the European Patent Office and has extensive knowledge in prosecuting patent applications in the United States, including participating in numerous examiner interviews at the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Victor also provides advice on patentability, patent validity and infringement matters, and has extensive experience in providing advice on patent filing/drafting strategies and patent portfolio management as well as conducting inventorship determinations and IP audits.

Victor’s honours and Ph.D. studies were conducted in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Melbourne, where he investigated the molecular interactions of a DNA-binding regulator of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. He has also held postdoctoral research positions at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) where his work focused on human T cell immunology and the molecular biology of schistosomiasis. Victor is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry & Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland. He has lectured frequently on patent matters at various universities and has co-authored a course book for Monash University. Victor joined Davies Collison Cave in 1999 and became a partner of the firm in 2002. Victor has been ranked in the MIP IP Stars Handbook 2014 as an ‘Australian IP Star’.

Victor’s experience in the biotechnology and life science fields includes handling matters relating to cell-, protein-, DNA- or small molecule-based vaccine compositions for treating or preventing pathogenic infections, cancers, allergies and autoimmune diseases, to the use of gene signatures and gene expression profiles for monitoring health function and for diagnosing the presence or risk of disease, to stem cell technologies for growing new tissues including vascular, bone and cartilage tissues or for treating or preventing disorders including haemopoietic disorders, bone disorders and trauma, to genetically modified plants with improved agronomic traits such disease resistance, salt and drought tolerance and increased or altered food content, and to genetically modified animals as models of human disease and methods for their production.