Mrs
Heather
Reiffer

Experience

Heather specialises in prosecution of patent applications, including UK, European and foreign prosecution. She also has experience in drafting patent applications, providing freedom to operate opinions and conducting patent searches. Heather has expertise in UK, European, Australian and New Zealand patent law and practice.

Prior to joining HGF, Heather worked for IP Australia (the Australian patent office) for over three years as a Patent Examiner. In this role, she searched and examined patents for medical devices, chemical engineering and mixed mechanical technologies. Heather was involved in several projects at IP Australia including investigating the use of artificial intelligence to support patent examination and providing subject matter expert support for the development of new systems. She also gained valuable experience as an acting Senior Examiner, leading a team of Patent Examiners in chemical engineering technologies.

Heather graduated from The University of Sydney in 2015 with a Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering (Honours) with a mechanical engineering major. Her honours research project focused on designing hydrogel models to test the effect of brain tissue rigidity on the migration of brain cancer cells. In the final year of her degree and after graduating she gained experience working with assistive technologies and respiratory devices.

Heather specialises in medical technologies including respiratory devices, orthopaedic implants, bionic implants, surgical tools, dental implants, bioreactors and biomaterials.