José Ignacio Bonilla joined ZBM Patents & Trademarks in 2004, bringing seven years of in-house experience in intellectual property and scientific information management within the pharmaceutical industry. During this period, he headed the IP and Scientific Information departments of several pharmaceutical companies, developing extensive expertise in patent searching, prior art analysis and intellectual property strategy, particularly in the fields of organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
His practice focuses on patent drafting and prosecution before the European Patent Office and under the PCT, with particular emphasis on chemistry and pharmaceutical inventions. He also advises clients on patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate analyses, combining strong technical knowledge with extensive experience in scientific and patent information retrieval.
Based in ZBM's Madrid office since 2009, José Ignacio qualified as a European Patent Attorney after passing the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) in 2013 and became a partner of the firm in 2015. In 2023, he obtained the European Patent Litigation Certificate, entitling him to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
In addition to his patent practice, José Ignacio serves as Technology Transfer Manager for Chemistry and Life Sciences at ZBM Business Connect, the innovation and technology transfer arm of ZBM. In this role, he advises private companies, universities and public research organisations on the protection, commercialisation and strategic exploitation of intellectual property assets.
José Ignacio regularly advises pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical and life sciences companies, as well as universities, research institutions and technology transfer offices, on the protection and management of complex intellectual property portfolios. His practice covers the full patent lifecycle, from strategic portfolio development and patent drafting to prosecution, validity and freedom-to-operate opinions, helping clients align their intellectual property strategy with their commercial and innovation objectives.
Year joined the firm: 2004
