How I can help your business

• Provide commercially focused IP strategy advice in chemistry and the life sciences to support portfolio development and investment readiness.
• Advise on freedom to operate and IP risk, helping you assess and manage potential infringement issues.
• Deliver IP due diligence to support transactions, fundraising and strategic decision making.

Overview & Expertise

Mairi Rudkin is a Partner based in Glasgow and a Chartered Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney and UPC representative. She advises on a broad range of chemical technologies, with a focus on pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and green chemistry. Her technical expertise includes medicinal and formulation chemistry, polymers and sustainable chemistry, with particular experience in reproductive health, oncology and infectious diseases.

Mairi works with clients ranging from multinational corporations to SMEs and start-ups, supporting the management of international patent portfolios and shaping IP strategies aligned with commercial and investment objectives. She has led due diligence and freedom to operate projects for major pharmaceutical clients, providing clear and commercially focused advice, often within tight timeframes.

Before entering the patent profession, Mairi worked in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry. She holds an MChem and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she specialised in transition metal-catalysed reactions, and gained industry experience as a synthetic chemist in a contract research organisation. She joined Marks & Clerk in 2011 and became a Partner in August 2022.

She has been recognised by Managing IP as an IP Rising Star from 2022 to 2024 and as a Notable Practitioner in 2025.

Client Work & Case Experience

• University spin-out — developing and implementing an IP strategy, including drafting complex patent applications and advising on freedom to operate, to support a successful funding round.
• SME — advising on freedom to operate risks and patent strategy for a new process, including identifying design modifications and strengthening the client’s IP position to enable commercialisation.
• Pharmaceutical sector — leading due diligence and freedom to operate analyses to provide strategic input on the potential acquisition of therapeutic assets.
• Global corporate client — coordinating an international project to review patent filing strategy and update internal IP processes, including managing input from multiple jurisdictions and delivering within a defined timeframe.