Laura Durán

Laura obtained her M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Alcalá. Out of her desire to face new challenges and expand her field of expertise, Laura moved to the Netherlands. There she worked for a year at the University of Leiden doing research in catalysis and supramolecular chemistry. She then moved on to the University of Amsterdam where she got her Ph.D. in 2008 working in the area of nanocatalysis. During her Ph.D. she was visiting researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her native language is Spanish, she is fluent in English and understands French and Dutch.

After her Ph.D. she worked as postdoc researcher on biofuel production at the spinoff company Yellowdiesel B.V. In 2009 she returned to Spain to continue her postdoctoral research at the Catalonian Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ) in Tarragona, where she worked on an industrial project for Bayer MaterialScience, now Covestro AG.  

After 8 years of experience working in research and development, she started working as a consultant writing EU research proposals for consortiums seeking to obtain EU funding in the areas of material science, industrial processes and energy.  

Then, in 2011 she moved into the IP field working as patent adviser for a leading Spanish IP law firm. Laura joined Balder IP in 2020 as patent consultant where she specializes in the areas of inorganic chemistry, nanotechnology, materials, energy and industrial processes.  

With more than 10 years of experience in IP, she has helped national and international clients with patentability assessments, infringement, validity and freedom-to-operate studies. She also has drafted and prosecuted numerous patent applications before the EPO and national offices such as the Spanish OEPM, the USPTO, JPO, KIPO, CNIPA, as well as all Latin American patent offices. 

Laura grabs every chance she has to enjoy the outdoors, traveling and hiking with her family and friends, taking pictures everywhere. Or going to some cultural event. She also likes reading books and listening to music in her spare time. She only wishes for the days to have more than 24 hours.