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INVO Series | Understanding Patents – Answering Common Questions From Academic Inventors

Calling all innovators! Join Innovation and New Ventures (INVO) at Northwestern University for an informative luncheon program that will demystify the patent process on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 from 11:30 - 12:30 PM. Attorneys from Marshall, Gerstein & Borun will share their insights to answer common questions posed by academic inventors and entrepreneurs. Reserve your free tickets now

The speakers will discuss:
  • patent strategies and when to file a patent application,
  • the process of obtaining a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,
  • the requirements for patentability, and
  • the role of inventors in the patent process.
Lunch will be provided.

Speaker Biographies:

Heather R. Kissling draws from 20 years of experience securing biotechnology patents to develop worldwide filing and prosecution strategies that further her clients’ business objectives. She actively collaborates with in-house counsel, bench scientists, and business development personnel to maximize protection of biotechnology innovations in a broad range of technologies, including biopharmaceuticals, personalized medicine, and industrial biotechnology. Her background in interference and opposition proceedings also benefits clients seeking advice with respect to competitor patent positions and third party challenges in the patent office. Clients find her to be a forward-thinking advocate that shares their commitment to realizing the maximum value from their intellectual property assets.

Ms. Kissling has been featured as a “Life Sciences Star” in the 2016-2017 editions of LMG Life Sciences. She was selected to the 2014 and 2016 editions of Managing IP’s IP Stars list of the Top 250 Women in IP, and was also named an “IP Star” in Managing IP’s 2015-2018 IP Stars Survey.

William K. Merkel, Ph.D. has provided a range of intellectual property legal services to a diverse portfolio of clients for more than 25 years. With a current focus on patent prosecution in the biotechnological arts, he has prosecuted numerous domestic, foreign, and international patent applications drawn to such diverse technologies as modulators of metabolic pathways involved in disease states, viral oncotherapies, CAR-T cell therapies, agricultural technologies, and pharmaceutical products and methodologies. Dr. Merkel’s efforts to protect his clients’ interests have extended beyond patent issuance to the resolution of matters requiring court intervention. As a result, his clients gain a trusted resource capable of evaluating and appropriately protecting their technological innovations.

Dr. Merkel has been selected by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyer Network as a “Leading Lawyer.” He also has been selected by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America© in the practice area of Patent Law for the past several years

For clients developing valuable products in molecular biology, Michael J. Allikian, Ph.D. brings extensive technological expertise to secure their patents. His significant graduate study, including extensive doctoral research on aging and postdoctoral research on musculoskeletal disease, gives him extraordinary grasp of the issues as well as application of the science. Clients find him careful and precise in working with them, as well as a strong communicator on behalf of their rights from his experience as a teacher and writer. Dr. Allikian has successfully gained patent protections for clients in a wide variety of molecular biology technologies, including nanobiotechnology, genomics, and therapeutics.

Have questions about INVO Series at NM | Understanding Patents – Answering Common Questions From Academic Inventors? Contact Innovation and New Ventures (INVO) at Northwestern University

Categories: STEM