Anita Choi is an associate in Morrison & Foerster’s Intellectual Property Group. Ms. Choi primarily counsels clients with chemistry-based technologies in the fields of biofuels, biochemicals, clean technology, agriculture, food products, materials science, molecular diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. Her patent practice is focused on the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications, patent portfolio analyses and management, patent due diligence, and freedom-to-operate analyses. Ms. Choi’s clients include emerging and multi-national companies, universities, and investors.
Ms. Choi is co-founder of the firm’s biofuels and biochemicals practice, which counsels clients developing new feedstocks and innovative technologies to produce biofuels, biochemicals, and other bioproducts from renewable sources. She also spearheads an initiative within the firm to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition, which is funded by a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy. Partnering with the California Institute of Technology, Ms. Choi mentors and counsels the next generation of clean technology entrepreneurs in developing IP strategies to protect their scientific breakthroughs, and assists in moving these technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace.
In addition to her patent practice, Ms. Choi is also a member of the firm's Venture Intellectual Property Group, assisting with numerous investor-side IP due diligence reviews. She also has experience working with clients on technology transaction matters, including counseling clients on licenses, collaborations for development and commercialization, and university-sponsored research agreements.
In 2013, Euromoney named Ms. Choi an intellectual property rising star at its Americas Women in Business Law Awards. Ms. Choi received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she graduated magna cum laude and was named to the Order of the Coif. She was also a Senior Editor on the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. During law school, Ms. Choi completed her M.B.A. at the Wharton School of Business.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Choi worked at a large pharmaceutical company performing chemistry research. She has also worked in organic and inorganic chemistry labs at the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Choi received her B.Sc., with honors, in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.