Practices

Patent Counseling and Prosecution – Life Sciences

Why Cooley

At Cooley, we don’t just focus on acquiring patent rights. We understand that patents are one component of a bigger strategy. We provide holistic patenting services and advice geared towards improving the bottom line, increasing shareholder/investor value, attracting strategic partners and positioning our clients for growth and success. The firm has an extraordinarily deep and experienced bench of life sciences patent lawyers and technical professionals comprised of former scientists. The vast majority of our team members hold PhDs, MDs or advanced degrees, bringing expert knowledge of chemical, biotech, medical device, and other life sciences technologies.

Cooley’s global life sciences patent team assists clients in the strategic acquisition, protection and monetization of patent rights in the US, UK, Europe and in commercially significant markets around the world. Our team of patent lawyers, located in offices across the US and London, brings to bear decades of experience drafting, prosecuting, defending and opposing patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). In addition to our coast to coast coverage across the US, UK and Europe, we have a carefully vetted network of counsel with whom we partner located in key jurisdictions worldwide.

Given our deep experience in this area, we understand what creates commercial value in a patent portfolio and are able to anticipate and mitigate risks for our clients. We are regularly called upon to diligence patent assets in connection with high-value mergers, acquisitions, financings, IPOs and other transactions. Our team has led 1,000+ investor-side and company-side patent due diligence reviews in recent years.

In addition, our global patent team partners with our deep bench of first-chair trial lawyers to bring sophisticated technical insights to bear in shaping winning litigation strategies. We regularly defend our clients’ patent positions across federal courts and have significant experience leading inter partes review, PTAB and reexam proceedings at the USPTO, as well as oppositions, appeals and observations at the EPO.

Areas of Practice

  • Strategic patent counseling
  • Patent prosecution and procurement
  • Portfolio management, analysis and monetization
  • FTO and patentability analysis, non-infringement and invalidity opinions
  • Patent diligence (investor-side and company-side)
  • Patent in-licensing and out-licensing
  • Protecting IP during strategic collaborations and transactions
  • IPR, PTAB and reexam proceedings (USPTO)
  • Oppositions, appeals and observations (EPO)
  • Patent enforcement strategies and litigation