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Morrison Foerster’s Patent Strategy + Prosecution Practice Ranked Band 1 for the Sixth Consecutive Year in the Chambers USA 2025

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Morrison Foerster has been awarded a Band 1 ranking in Patent Prosecution (California) by Chambers USA for the sixth consecutive...

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Morrison Foerster has been awarded a Band 1 ranking in Patent Prosecution (California) by Chambers USA for the sixth consecutive year, reaffirming its leadership in this space. Members of the patent practice have also been ranked in the Nationwide and California Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation categories. Chambers has further recognized five MoFo Patent Strategy + Prosecution lawyers individually:<ul><li>Catherine Polizzi, partner in MoFo’s Palo Alto office, has received a Band 1 ranking in the California Patent Prosecution category for the fourth consecutive year. Catherine is also ranked in Band 1 for Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation both in California and nationally.</li><li>Karen Potter, partner in MoFo’s San Diego office, has been newly ranked among the best California Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation practitioners.</li><li>Michael Ward, co-chair of MoFo’s Life Sciences + Healthcare group, Patent group, Intellectual Property group, and Food + Agriculture group, continues to be ranked among the leading practitioners in the California Patent Prosecution category. </li><li>Janet Xiao, partner in MoFo’s Palo Alto office, is again recognized in the California Patent Prosecution category, as well as the California Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation category.</li><li>Jie Zhou, partner in MoFo’s San Francisco office, has been recognized by Chambers for the second time in the California Patent Prosecution category.</li></ul>In its 2025 edition, Chambers USA highlights the stellar feedback the group has received from clients, which includes the following:<ul><li>"Morrison Foerster's client service is above and beyond - The professionalism and responsiveness is incredible."</li><li>"Morrison Foerster is an exceptional team that I rely upon for pragmatic and strategic advice."</li><li>"Catherine is a great IP practitioner with a sharp mind and eye for a diverse range of IP matters."</li><li>"Janet has been epic, she integrates science, business and patent strategy."</li><li>"Jie is a scientist at her core, doesn't lose commercial focus and is so responsive with timelines."</li></ul>MoFo’s patent practice boasts over 100 professionals, including attorneys, patent agents, and analysts, with more than 80 holding Ph.D. degrees. The firm provides a comprehensive suite of patent prosecution and strategic counseling services, catering to clients in the life sciences, food and agriculture, and technology industries.To view the complete list of Morrison Foerster’s rankings in the 2025 edition of Chambers USA, please visit the publication’s <a href="https://chambers.com/law-firm/morrison-foerster-usa-5:7854" target="_blank">website</a>.

Morrison Foerster’s Patent Strategy + Prosecution Practice Ranked Band 1 for the Sixth Consecutive Year in the Chambers USA 2025

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Intellectual versatility combined with incisive, pragmatic counseling and business acumen is the hallmark of Catherine’s practice.Catherine helps emerging and established companies through the challenging process of obtaining patents, and provides strategic, effective portfolio counseling and management, as well as strategic advice surrounding freedom of operation and other forms of IP assessment. She develops valuable, strategic portfolios around breakthrough therapies in a variety of areas including cancer, cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.She also has significant experience in a wide spectrum of technology areas, including biologics (such as antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and polypeptides), nucleic acids, precision medicine, diagnostics, cell therapy including T cell technologies, such as chimeric antigen receptors, drug formulation technologies, drug delivery technologies, such as nanotechnologies, microfluidics, drug screening systems, AI solutions for life sciences including discovery platforms, amplification technologies, genetic screening, sequencing technologies including next generation sequencing, regenerative medicine, nutraceuticals, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry, including small molecule drugs.Catherine’s unique background, ability to integrate IP with a given business model to translate into meaningful valuation, risk assessment and advice, and highly effective communication skills in critical settings such as R&D, all phases of product development, and investment contexts, enable her to provide effective, creative solutions to the significant challenges often faced by clients. Catherine is an acquisition and value enhancement driver as well, a critical conduit for companies as they grow from startup through IPO, exit, and beyond.IP Leadership for Transactions, Financings, and Acquisitions. Catherine’s practice also includes due diligence evaluation and counseling in the context of venture investment assessments and in connection with public and private financing, spin-offs, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions, where her IP strategies have helped drive the value of multibillion dollar deals.Representative transactions resulting from Catherine’s leadership include:<ul><li>The $74 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) of Celgene Corporation, the largest pharmaceutical-company acquisition ever to date.</li><li>Celgene Corporation’s $9 billion acquisition of client Juno Therapeutics and earlier $2.9 billion acquisition of client Abraxis BioScience.</li><li>The $2.6 billion acquisition of Nestle Health Science of client Aimmune Therapeutics.</li><li>The up to $1.1 billion development collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb on behalf of Volastra Therapeutics, which was recognized as one of the most promising early-stage biotechnology companies in the industry by Fierce Biotech’s 2022 Fierce 15, to discover, develop, and commercialize new oncology medicines.</li><li>Dewpoint Therapeutics’ $239 million collaboration with Pfizer for the development of new treatments for a rare kind of muscular dystrophy, the $305 million collaboration with Merck on a novel approach for the treatment of HIV, and the up to $100 million partnership with Bayer to research new treatments for cardiovascular and gynecological diseases.</li><li>SQZ Biotechnologies’ $125 million partnership with Roche to work on antigen-presenting cells designed to trigger killer T cell attacks against tumors.</li><li>Frontier Medicines’ $55 million collaboration with AbbVie to develop molecules against hard-to-drug targets.</li><li>Myriad Genetics’ $375 million acquisition of Counsyl, Inc.</li><li>Turnstone Biologics’ acquisition of Myst Therapeutics.</li><li>The $14 billion acquisition by Pfizer of client Medivation, as well as the previous $225 million Pfizer investment in Medivation.</li></ul>Catherine was retained by BMS, Pfizer, Celgene, and Juno (following the acquisitions of both by BMS) for ongoing patent strategy and counseling work on the existing patent portfolios and with expanded representation of the parent companies following these acquisitions. Other representative transactions where her astute leadership has proved invaluable include:<ul><li>Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of TARIS Biomedical, with a focus on transforming the treatment of bladder cancer.</li><li>Frontier Medicines’ Series A Preferred Stock financing of $67 million. </li><li>SQZ Biotech’s $65 million Series D financing.</li><li>Dewpoint Therapeutics’ $150 million Series C financing, $77 million Series B financing and $60 million Series A financing.</li><li>Lyndra Therapeutics’ $55 million Series B financing.</li><li>Alpine Immune Sciences’ $48 million Series A financing and subsequent $90 million merger with Nivalis Therapeutics, resulting in a publicly traded company.</li><li>Indapta Therapeutics’ $50 million Series A financing.</li><li>Cartography Biosciences' $57 million Series A financing.</li></ul>Strategist in Legal Challenges and a Key Member of Litigation Teams. In addition to helping create value and commercialize her clients’ technologies, Catherine devises strategies and defenses to fortify their patents in the event of legal challenges by competitors. Accordingly, she renders advice on all aspects of patent positioning, including opinions on patentability, validity, freedom of operation, infringement, and competitor IP evaluation. She also works in the area of third–party challenges, such as inter partes review (IPR) and oppositions.A Recognized Leader. Catherine formerly served as the chair of the firm’s Patent Prosecution & Counseling Group and co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Chambers USA noted that Catherine “maintains a strong reputation for her capabilities advising biotechnology clients on portfolio management and other IP matters,” while clients note that she is “a great strategic thinker, great at flagging the high–level questions and brings a good business perspective,” and praise her for “bring[ing] a good business perspective to IP efforts which is not always evident with other IP attorneys.” Catherine has also received many awards and accolades throughout her career, including the following:  <ul><li>Recommended as a leading lawyer by Legal 500 U.S. for 2012–2024</li><li>Recognized among World’s Leading Patent Practitioners by IAM Patent 1000 for 2014-2024</li><li>Recognized as a Best Lawyer in Biotechnology and Life Sciences by Best Lawyers for 2023 and 2024</li><li>Selected as one of the Top 100 Intellectual Property Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal for 2009–2022</li></ul>Catherine is patent counsel to numerous publicly traded and privately held companies, with many new client relationships resulting from her strong reputation in the life sciences industry. A selection of her representative matters include the following:<ul><li>Genentech, the world’s first and most successful biotechnology company, relies on Catherine’s strategic patent counseling and prosecution services for its most difficult and challenging patent matters. Her work involves developing overall patent strategy, patent application drafting, and prosecution for key technologies. Her high–value work for Genentech also includes strategic assessment of key and novel technologies, as well as inter partes review and patent litigation support and advisement.</li><li>Juno Therapeutics has continuously relied on Catherine for patent strategy and prosecution. Juno is one of the best–funded start–ups in biotechnology history. It went on to become a publicly traded company in 2014 and ultimately was acquired by Celgene in 2018 for $9 billion; the strength of the patent portfolio that Catherine crafted helped drive the valuation for the deal. She led the IP team on the acquisition.</li><li>Celgene calls on Catherine for its patent strategy, drafting, and IP due diligence matters. She worked with Abraxis BioScience for many years in a similar capacity to help develop their IP position for the highly successful cancer drug, Abraxane. Catherine then counseled the company through its $2.9 billion acquisition by Celgene Corporation, including providing significant IP strategy and due diligence counseling. This IP platform was a major component of the valuation of the company. She was subsequently engaged by Celgene following the acquisition.</li><li>Dewpoint Therapeutics hired Catherine to lead their patent strategy. Dewpoint is on the cutting edge with technology relating to condensate biology, a new and paradigm-shift area of drug development. Catherine led the IP strategy and due diligence for their partnership with Bayer to research new treatments for cardiovascular and gynecological diseases. The work that Dewpoint is doing is seen as a significant move forward in the biopharma industry and opens the door to many potential new discoveries in biology through biomolecular condensates. For example, in January 2021, Dewpoint teamed up with Pfizer to develop new treatments for a rare kind of muscular dystrophy. In July 2020, Dewpoint announced their collaboration with Merck to evaluate a novel approach for the treatment of HIV.</li><li>Some of Catherine’s additional representative clients include clinical–stage and start–up companies, such Dynavax Technologies, Cytokinetics, Alpine Immune Sciences, Aimmune Therapeutics, 10x Genomics, Sonoma Biotherapeutics, CohBar, Sangamo Therapeutics, Seagen (formerly Seattle Genetics), Frontier Medicines, Maze Therapeutics, Myst Therapeutics, Sana Biotechnology, Sirenas, and Volastra Therapeutics and Boston–based SQZ Biotechnologies, Lyndra Therapeutics, Dewpoint Therapeutics, TARIS Biomedical, and Cartography Biosciences.</li></ul>

Catherine Polizzi

Partner

Karen Potter is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Life Sciences Patent group. Her practice focuses on patent preparation, prosecution, and strategic counseling for start‑up, emerging, and established life sciences and biotechnology companies. She advises clients in the development and management of comprehensive patent portfolios that match their scientific and business objectives. Karen also helps identify and evaluate patentability, ensure freedom to operate, and perform due diligence review of patent portfolios for clients, including investor-side and target-side due diligence.Building on her technical expertise in cellular and molecular biology and immunology, Karen has experience managing and developing patent portfolios in the areas of cell and gene therapies, including T-cell therapies, Natural Killer cell-based therapies, stem cell therapies and gene-based therapies; protein therapeutics such as immunotherapies, including antibody and protein-based therapies; virus therapies; companion diagnostics; and diagnostic assays and bioassays.Karen has 18 years of experience in global patent portfolio development and strategy. She works closely with clients to counsel them on all matters of patent strategy and prosecution and is adept at quickly understanding complex technologies to implement patent filing strategies. She manages and mentors a team of scientific analysts, patent agents, and associates in establishing and building life sciences patent portfolios. Representative clients include Alpine Immune Sciences, Applied Biomedical Science Institute, Aspen Neuroscience, Bristol Myers Squibb and its subsidiaries Juno Therapeutics and Celgene, Indapta Therapeutics, Inhibrx, Rakuten Medical, Sana Biotechnology, Tune Therapeutics, and Turnstone Biologics.Before entering the patent field, Karen was a postdoctoral fellow at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Department of Molecular Immunology, in the laboratory of Dr. Carl F. Ware. During her doctorate studies, she worked in the laboratory of the late Dr. Jo Rae Wright who served as an invaluable mentor and supporter. The results of her research have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and she has presented her results at national scientific meetings.She received her J.D. from California Western School of Law, Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from Duke University, and B.S. in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego. Karen has been recognized for her achievements as a patent attorney including recognition by the Legal 500 US.

Karen Potter

Michael (Mike) Ward is co-chair of the firm's Life Sciences + Healthcare Group, Patent Group, Intellectual Property Group, and Food + Agriculture Group.As co-chair of the Patent Group, Mike manages a team that includes 80+ Ph.D.s and 100+ attorneys and others with advanced scientific degrees in life sciences and related engineering disciplines. From small molecules and antibodies to gene editing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, MoFo has deep experience protecting some of the most important innovations in the life sciences and food and agriculture sectors.Life SciencesFor his work across the life sciences sector, Mike was named San Francisco Biotechnology Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America in 2020 and is recommended for his patent strategy and prosecution practice in LMG Life Sciences. He also led the team that was named 2022 Patent Management and Strategy Firm of the Year at the 2022 LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards.Food + AgricultureRecognized as “one of the world’s foremost plant and agriculture IP lawyers,” Mike manages a wide range of intellectual property issues related to plants and plant products. He and his team advise clients on plant and plant utility patents; licensing agreements for plant IP; litigation in U.S. state and federal court and before the International Trade Commission; and regulatory approvals from the USDA, FDA, and EPA for gene edited and genetically engineered plants.Patent Strategy + ProsecutionMike is a Legal 500 US Hall of Fame lawyer for patent prosecution and is consistently named one of the leading IP lawyers by Managing Intellectual Property, Chambers USA and Chambers Global, and IAM Patent 1000.Mike works closely with many clients to develop and manage their patent portfolios. He helps clients identify, monitor, and assess the infringement risks of third-party patents. He also assists clients in preparing both offensive and defensive patent portfolios, with a particular emphasis on drafting patent applications that will be utilized in licensing and in litigation efforts.IP Due DiligenceFor venture capitalists seeking to invest in early- and mid-stage companies, underwriters involved in IPOs, and companies seeking to acquire or merge with other companies, Mike has managed extensive IP diligence. His work includes assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of patent portfolios, evaluation of freedom to operate issues, and strategic recommendations for maximizing the value of patent portfolios going forward.Mike also works closely with the IP Litigation Group on various litigation matters including patent interferences to determine the first-to-invent and patent re-examination work and actively participates in both mediation and arbitration proceedings on behalf of clients in the life sciences and food and agriculture areas.He is a frequent lecturer and speaker. Among numerous speaking engagements, Mike is the IP instructor at the UC Davis Licensing Academy and founded Morrison Foerster’s annual Harvard Biotechnology Club Fall Patent Law Course.Mike holds a Ph.D. in plant physiology (biochemistry) and an M.S. in agronomy from the University of California, Davis; a B.S. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley; and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law. He was a post-doctoral fellow in plant molecular biology at the Harvard Medical School and the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he worked on the Arabidopsis genome project.

Michael Ward

Janet focuses her practice on worldwide patent procurement, patent portfolio management, and strategic planning for life sciences companies. Janet’s clients range from large multinational biopharmaceutical companies, such as Celgene and Genentech, to emerging startup companies around the world. She advises her clients on patent matters relating to various technologies, including antibody therapeutics, cell therapeutics, nanomedicine, gene therapy, drug delivery systems, diagnostics, and nutraceuticals.Recognized by Chambers as being highly sought after for patent prosecution and strategy mandates by innovators from around the world, Janet develops and strengthens her clients’ complex patent portfolios to maximize their commercial value. She is instrumental in developing strategies for multibillion-dollar patent portfolios for pharmaceutical clients. As impressed clients noted to Chambers, “Janet’s work is thorough, polished and always of the highest caliber. She is well equipped to advise international clients on patent prosecution and strategy in the biotech industry, drawing on substantial technical knowledge.”Janet works extensively in performing IP due diligence reviews in the contexts of VC investments, technology transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and marketing and manufacturing clearance for biopharmaceutical products. She helps some of the world’s most-sophisticated biopharmaceutical companies and investors assess potential risks and devise preemptive risk-management strategies for their product development and investments. She has led hundreds of IP due diligence projects, and is noted for her in-depth knowledge of patent landscapes in the fields of cancer immunotherapy, gene editing, next-generation sequencing, liquid biopsy, antibody manufacturing, and medical devices. Janet works regularly with patent litigators in the event of legal challenges by third-party competitors or vice versa, and she is frequently called upon to represent clients in litigation and post-grant proceedings.Janet is the Head of firm’s China Life Sciences Group and served as co-chair of the global Life Sciences Group from 2016 to 2019. She is among the very few IP attorneys in the world who are both equipped with solid skills in global strategic IP management and knowledgeable about IP issues unique to China and Chinese clients, and she has been the go-to counsel for IP issues in U.S./China cross-border transactions and operations in China. Chambers Global praises her as an outstanding IP lawyer “who is renowned for her work on IP issues concerning complex cross-border transactions, where she regularly advises Chinese clients.” In a recent edition of Chambers Global, a client says, “Janet . . . is very experienced in advising life sciences clients doing business in China and the US . . . She is highly responsive and always gives practical advice. Her IP expertise adds tremendous value to our business.”Since 2005, Janet has been actively involved in the leadership team of the Chinese-American Biopharmaceutical Society (CABS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the life sciences communities in the U.S. and China, including serving as president for the 2011–2012 term. She is also a member of BayHelix, a nonprofit organization of Chinese heritage leaders in the global life sciences and healthcare fields.

肖荐（Janet Xiao）博士的业务侧重于为生命科学公司处理在全球范围内的专利采购、专利组合管理和战略策划事宜。肖博士服务的客户范围广泛，包括大型跨国生物制药公司，例如赛尔基因公司（Celgene）和基因泰克公司（Genentech），也包括全球范围的新兴创业公司。她经常就与各种技术有关的专利事宜向客户提供法律意见，其中涉及的技术包括抗体疗法、细胞疗法、纳米医学、基因疗法、给药系统、诊断和和营养学等。来自全球的创新者纷纷向肖博士寻求专利申请和专利战略的法律咨询，这一点也得到了《钱伯斯指南》的认可。她帮助客户开发和加强其复杂的专利组合，从而为客户实现最大的商业价值。在为制药行业的客户制定数十亿美元专利组合的战略方面，肖博士发挥着重要的作用。《钱伯斯指南》曾引用客户评价称，“肖博士是我曾合作过的律师当中知识最渊博、效率最高的一位律师。她能很好地将专利组合的历史信息用于全球专利申请问题上。”肖博士针对风险投资、技术交易、并购和生物医药产品的市场推广与生产许可事宜开展广泛的知识产权尽职调查审查工作。她协助世界上一些最成功的生物制药公司和投资者，为其产品开发和投资评估潜在风险，并制定先发制人的风险管理策略。她曾牵头处理过数百个知识产权尽职调查项目，并凭借自己对癌症免疫治疗、基因编辑、新一代测序、液体活检、抗体制造和医疗设备领域的专利方面的深厚知识而闻名。肖博士时常与专利诉讼律师合作，处理由第三方竞争者提出的法律质疑，或对第三方竞争者提出的法律质疑，她还经常受聘代表客户处理专利诉讼和授予后程序。肖博士是美富中国生命科学业务组主管，她曾在2016至2019期间担任美富全球生命科学业务组的联席主管。肖博士是全球为数不多的既拥有很强的全球战略性知识产权管理技能，同时又对中国和中国客户独特的知识产权问题具有深刻理解的知识产权律师之一，她一直是处理中美跨境交易和在中国境内经营中所涉知识产权问题的首选律师。《钱伯斯全球指南》称赞她是一位优秀的知识产权律师，“她因处理与复杂跨境交易有关的知识产权问题工作而知名，经常代表中国客户处理这方面的事宜” 。在近期一版《钱伯斯全球指南》中，某客户评价称，“肖博士在为于中国和美国开展业务的生命科学客户提供法律意见方面，有非常丰富的经验。她非常负责而且总是提供切实可行的法律意见。她在知识产权方面的专业意见为我们的业务增添了巨大价值。”自2005年以来，肖博士一直积极参与北美华人生物医药协会（CABS）的领导工作。该协会是一家非营利组织，致力于成为连接中美两国生命科学领域的纽带。肖博士在2011至2012年间担任该协会主席。她还是百华协会（BayHelix）的成员。百华协会是一家非营利组织，由全球生命科技和医疗保健产业领域的华人精英组成。

Janet Xiao

Dr. Jie Zhou is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Life Sciences Group. Her practice focuses on patent prosecution and counseling clients in the areas of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. She has significant experience developing worldwide patent portfolios for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to multinational companies. She also advises clients on IP management and strategic portfolio planning.Because of her extensive experience in patent prosecution and counseling, as well as her deep knowledge and hands-on experience in bioscience and other technologies, companies often rely on Dr. Zhou for their most difficult and challenging patent work, which involves: developing overall patent strategy to support their business objectives; patent application drafting; and prosecution of high value patent portfolios. Dr. Zhou has successfully obtained patent coverage for many therapeutic candidates that are in early development or in various phases of FDA approval.Dr. Zhou has significant experience in developing patent strategies and portfolios around breakthrough technologies in a wide spectrum of areas, including biologics (such as therapeutic antibodies, polypeptides, and enzymes), nucleic acids (such as RNAi), small molecule therapeutics, drug formulation technologies, gene therapy, personalized medicine, diagnostics, vaccines, biologics manufacturing processes, nanotechnologies, and nutraceuticals. Her strong scientific background, combined with skills to integrate IP with business objectives, allow Dr. Zhou to provide effective, creative solutions to IP challenges often faced by clients. Her clients include Genentech, Sanofi, Seagen, Alector, ALX Oncology, Allakos, Adverum Biotechnologies, Foundation Medicine, Adagene, Enliven Therapeutics, and Attralus.Dr. Zhou’s practice also includes IP due diligence review for business transactions, such as venture capital investments, public financings, and mergers and acquisitions. She prepares opinions on patentability, freedom-to-operate, and invalidity, and advises clients on marketing clearance of biologics and pharmaceutical products. She advises IP risks and provides strategic guidance for companies and investors.Dr. Zhou has been recognized by several publications including the Daily Journal as one of the Top Intellectual Property Attorneys in California.