Steffen Thomas, PhD, has over 15 years of experience as a European patent attorney and is currently practicing at Epping Hermann Fischer, a major European intellectual property law firm. Previously, he worked as an in-house patent attorney for Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, the largest pharmaceutical company in Asia and a top firm worldwide. Before that, he worked for Nycomed Pharma, acquired by Takeda in 2011 for approximately $10 billion. Dr. Thomas’ legal practice covers drafting of patent applications, prosecuting patent applications before national and international patent offices, defending and challenging patents in opposition, appeal, and nullity proceedings, enforcing patents before the infringement courts, and preparing opinions on patentability and infringement in the technical field of chemistry. Dr. Thomas has particular expertise in small-molecule pharmaceuticals. He holds an MS and PhD in chemistry from the University of Munich.