Patricia Tsao is an attorney in the firm’s Patent Group. Her practice focuses on patent preparation, prosecution, and portfolio management for companies working the biotechnology and molecular diagnostics sectors. Dr. Tsao also assists clients in assessing freedom-to-operate for products in development and for acquisition and licensing decisions. Her clients include established companies such as Genentech, startups, and universities.

Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Tsao worked as a patent agent for an intellectual property boutique, where she handled patent prosecution matters and performed searches for patentability and freedom-to-operate analyses.

Dr. Tsao received her J.D. from the University of Washington. She received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she studied the membrane trafficking of G protein-coupled receptors. As an undergraduate, she attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and a minor in biology.