Intellectual Property Department Continues to Expand in New York
NEW YORK (November 17, 2009) — McDermott Will & Emery LLP is pleased to welcome Paul M. Zagar, M.D. and Louis J. DelJuidice as the Firm’s newest partners in the Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department based in New York. Additionally Shilpa V. Patel, Ph.D., will join the New York intellectual property team as an associate and Nicole Sullivan, Ph.D., will join the Firm as a scientific advisor. The new team joins their former colleagues Joseph Robinson and Robert Schaffer who joined McDermott in October from Darby & Darby.
Terry McMahon, head of the Firm’s global Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department said, “This is an exciting development for our international IP practice. Paul and Louis are outstanding lawyers. Paul’s background as a surgeon and his knowledge of the chemical and medical devices area will be a tremendous asset to our clients, as will the international experience Louis and Shilpa bring. They are exceptional additions to our global IP team.”
The group of lawyers joining McDermott are leading practitioners in the intellectual property area. They have extensive experience successfully representing clients in patent prosecution and patent litigation matters as well as counseling clients on managing IP portfolios and performing due diligences on IP assets. Their practices span a variety of industries including biotech, pharmaceutical, mechanical, electronics, telecommunications, industrial, medical device and consumer products areas.
“We are delighted to welcome these talented attorneys to our New York office,” commented Keith Pattiz, partner-in-charge of the Firm's New York office. “Our New York office is definitely growing and adding lawyers with their scientific background and international experience will benefit our lawyers and client across multiple practices.”
“We look forward to working not only with the cross-border IP team, but also the life sciences and controversy teams to continue to grow our practices, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries,” commented Dr. Zagar. Mr. DelJuidice continued, “The transition will be seamless and we are excited to be a part of growing intellectual property team in New York.”
McDermott’s Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department includes more than 180 lawyers and patent agents working in all of our offices throughout the world. We are renowned for our trial and appellate experience, and are ranked as one of the strongest IP litigation firms for both plaintiffs and defendants. Our practice in procurement and licensing in the patent, trademark and copyright areas is recognized for its depth and breadth. Rounding out our intellectual property, media and technology services, the team provides client counseling and advice regarding trade secret, unfair competition, advertising, entertainment and computer law. Additionally, we work closely with our transactional and tax lawyers on the intersection of IP and corporate issues.
Biographical Notes
Dr. Zagar focuses his practice on patent prosecution, patent litigation and transactional work predominantly within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. His practice also encompasses U.S. and foreign prosecution, reissues, infringement and validity opinions and due diligence in practices areas such as immunology, genetics, virology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostic systems and mechanical devices. Dr. Zagar’s litigation experience includes pharmaceutical cases arising under the Hatch-Waxman Act, an infringement dispute in district court involving claims directed to lentiviral vectors, and a high-profile appeal to the Federal Circuit.
He was a board-certified general surgeon for nearly five years before working as a lawyer, where he practiced general and vascular surgery in Florida at the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center and then in Virginia at the Riverside Tappahannock Hospital in Tappahannock. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Zagar earned his J.D. from College of William and Mary, his M.D. from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and his B.A., in biology, from University of Virginia.
Mr. DelJuidice has extensive experience preparing and prosecuting both Inter Parte and Ex Parte Reexaminations as both requester and owner as well as legal opinions on issues relating to patentability, freedom to operate, noninfringement and invalidity. He also focuses his practice on managing portfolios for U.S. and Japanese clients as well as auditing and performing due diligences on intellectual property assets in furtherance of licensing. Mr. DelJuidice has been active in numerous litigation matters. His experience includes noninfringement and invalidity defenses, claim construction, discovery, analyzing patent infringes and pre-filing due diligence fact finding.
Mr. DelJuidice is a licensed engineer, licensed in the State of Connecticut. He earned his J.D. from Pace University, his M.S. in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University.
Dr. Patel focuses her practice on patent prosecution, patent litigation and transactional work within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. She has experience drafting and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications, preparing infringement and validity opinions, conducting due diligence analyses, and providing client portfolio counseling for biotechnology and pharmaceutical inventions such a therapeutic antibodies, small molecules and chemistry, immunology, DNA and protein technologies, and anti-fungal solutions. She also has experience conducting complex inventorship analyses and providing litigation support for document review and privilege logs. Dr. Patel earned her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, her Ph.D. from Yale University and her B.S. in biochemistry, psychology, and molecular biology from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Sullivan focuses her practice on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, bioengineering, and molecular biology fields. She assists with patent due diligence, opinion letters, patentability assessments, inter partes reexaminations, and patent litigation. Prior to joining McDermott, Dr. Sullivan was a scientific advisor at an international patent law firm. She was also a senior research scientist at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where she worked in research and development in the Department of Pain’s Molecular Pharmacology Group. In this position, she served as a program leader for two drug discovery targets.
