Sean Dennehey

Deputy Chief Executive and Patents Director

Appointed Director in March 2004 and Assistant Comptroller (Deputy Chief Executive) in November 2007.

After reading natural sciences at Cambridge University, Sean joined the Office in 1978 as a patent examiner. He was involved in a number of policy initiatives, including negotiation of the EC Biotechnology Directive and the Supplementary Protection Certificate Regulation, and the conference in 2000 to revise the European Patent Convention.

In the operational field, Sean initially set up the Office's non-statutory search and advisory services. He has also led the Patents Legal Section and acted as a tribunal Hearing Officer, deciding inter-partes disputes as an alternative or prelude to litigation in the High Court.

As Patents Director, Sean is responsible for the operational delivery of the UK patent system. His focus is on the provision of high quality and timely UK national patents and a range of related products and services. He is also responsible for patent policy.

Sean is also Deputy Chief Executive, and acted as Interim Chief Executive in the winter of 2009/10.

It's good to hear customers say the service they get from my patents teams is helpful and friendly. What they rarely say is that the patent system itself, especially for international protection, is simple, quick and cheap. Changing that must be one of the big challenges for us.