Biography
Fabrice is a Principal, the Global Head of the Patent Group and Rouse's Climate Change Head
Fabrice began his legal career in 1993, qualifying as a French attorney and receiving training in Paris with Gide Loyrette Nouel and in London with Middleton Potts. In 2000, Fabrice established Rouse's office in Bangkok, followed by the opening of Rouse's office in Yangon, Myanmar in 2013. His primary practice area focuses on patent prosecution and litigation, with a strong emphasis on the Asia Pacific region. Fabrice specializes in life sciences and biotechnology, with a particular focus on gene editing such as CRISPR-Cas9. He completed his thesis on crops gene editing at the Faculty of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh.
Fabrice has played a pivotal role as lead patent attorney in significant patent disputes across the region. Notable cases include representing Asahi Glass Corporation vs. Hoya Corporation, Nitto Denko vs. Hutchinson, Eli Lilly vs. Dabur, Sanofi vs. Bioscience, Desjoyaux vs. JD Pools, and Honda Motor vs. Soi Ha Limited.
He has contributed extensively to the harmonization of patent examination rules in South-East Asia, serving as a consultant to the European Patent Office (EPO) and written the ASEAN Common Guidelines on Patent Examination available at https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ACG-PE-final-version-for-publication_edit-03mar.pdf
Since 2020, Fabrice has been appointed by the President of the EPO as a member of the Standing Advisory Committee (SACEPO) for two mandates, spanning from 2020-2023 and 2024-2026. Additionally, he serves on advisory committees related to biodiversity and strategies for enhancing local innovation in South-East Asia with WIPO.
Fabrice's expertise extends to climate change and green technology, where he has advised on clean energy, carbon capture, smart grids, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and carbon finance aligned with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He holds a role as a Network Partner for Africa and Asia with the Private Financing Advisory Network of UNIDO and REEEP, focusing on carbon innovations to combat climate change. In 2024 he was elected as the Chairman of the Biodiversity and IP Standing Committee of the Asia Pacific Seeds Association (APSA) which includes addressing issues such as the interaction between breeders and farmers rights, seeds’ gene editing and climate change.
In the field of Geographical Indications, Fabrice represents numerous holders globally, including Thai Hom Mali rice (Thailand), Kampot Pepper (Cambodia), Champagne, Cognac, Bordeaux (France), Napa Valley (USA), café de Columbia (Columbia), and Pisco (Peru).
Fabrice has developed innovative software tools, including PATEMPO™ for patent pendency rate calculation in China and South-East Asia, CLIPMATE™, the World’s first carbon footprint calculator for intellectual property rights, and LITIGASIA™, the first database tracking climate change and green tech litigation cases in South-East Asia.
He manages the blog www.ipandclimatechange.com focusing on the intersection of climate change and intellectual property. Fabrice is also a lecturer on patent law and climate change at various universities, including UCLA, Waseda University (Japan), and Strathclyde University (Scotland). Since 2020, he has served as full time professor at PaoliTech, School of Engineering, University of Corsica, leading a Master's degree course on climate science and innovations, the first curriculum in Europe merging climate change with intellectual property.