Kenyon & Kenyon LLP protects core products and technologies worth billions of dollars to life sciences companies by employing a vast knowledge of medical technologies, procedures, the drug development process, and chemicals and materials science. We also apply this knowledge to protect innovations which are breaking new ground in diagnostics, treatment and research. More than one hundred life sciences companies, including several of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, chemical, biomedical, and biotechnology companies, rely on Kenyon to provide representation in intellectual property litigation, patent prosecution, counseling and opinions, due diligence reviews, trademark searches and filing campaigns, and IP licensing.
As a go-to IP firm for life sciences companies, Kenyon has developed the resources to support the industry by retaining talent that possesses undergraduate and/or advanced degrees in life sciences subjects. Over 70 Kenyon attorneys hold degrees in biology, chemistry, physics, pharmacology, neuroscience, chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, agricultural and biological engineering, or mechanical engineering, among other life sciences related fields. Many of these attorneys gained career experience in the life sciences industry before transitioning into the practice of law.
Kenyon’s stature in the life sciences IP field, and our life sciences related patent litigation and patent prosecution work, have earned the praise of reputable legal referral guides including PLC Which Lawyer, Managing Intellectual Property and The Legal 500 US. In 2011, Kenyon was named the “Life Sciences Law Firm of the Year,” by Lawyers World. In addition, our attorneys are the chosen authors of the US chapter in the International Pharmaceutical Law treatise, which is published by the renowned legal publisher, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA). We are also US contributing authors for Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Chemical Inventions: World Protection and Exploitation, a treatise published by Oxford University Press which provides extensive comparative analyses of intellectual property rights relating to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries across the world's key jurisdictions.
We use our in-depth understanding of the highly-regulated and competitive environment in which life sciences companies operate to protect our clients’ IP assets, as well as to compete in the intellectual property space of others. Patent strength and durability play a determinative role in the value of such assets. As such, we develop patent strategies that are designed to help our clients build and sustain their portfolios in a way which drives revenue and product longevity. With experience prosecuting and obtaining thousands of patents covering a broad scope of drug components, medical technologies and procedures, we are skilled at drafting patent applications that withstand challenges brought by competitors. We use this skill beyond patent prosecution by providing product development and investment guidance to our clients. Our adept ability to draft patents also informs our ability to conduct due diligence reviews for clients and render product clearance opinions and opinions regarding the validity of others’ patents, the likelihood of infringement, and how to design around existing patents.
When we identify vulnerabilities underlying the IP of our clients’ competitors, we help our clients engage in license agreements or initiate litigations intended to exploit such vulnerabilities. Kenyon’s experience litigating in the leading IP litigation forums, including the US district courts, federal courts and the International Trade Commission, affords advantages including a sophisticated ability to advise on how specific courts are likely to receive certain offensive or defensive arguments. We use these advantages to represent plaintiffs and defendants in patent, trademark, and unfair competition cases. Our litigation strengths are reinforced by Kenyon’s ITC practice, which is recognized by Managing Intellectual Property as being among the best in the field. With specialists who have initiated or defended more than 30 ITC cases, we are prepared to protect the rights of our life sciences clients, as well as to challenge the rights of their competitors, as they relate to importing products into the US, the world’s largest pharmaceutical and medical device market.
We also draft and negotiate licenses and technology transfer agreements that help our clients capitalize on their innovations. In addition, we conduct trademark searches and filing campaigns to enable our clients to secure protection for new product lines without infringing others’ trademarks.
As a result of our accomplishments in the field, Kenyon attorneys are often sought after as subject matter experts regarding issues and trends affecting the life sciences field. We are frequently invited to speak at industry conferences produced by leading organizations such as the New York Biotechnology Association, the State University of New York, the American Conference Institute, and the Institute for International Research, among others.
Generic Pharmaceutical Litigation
The interaction of a complex drug regulatory scheme and the patent laws raises special issues in litigation between branded drug companies and generic challengers. Kenyon is one of the most experienced law firms in this area, having represented both generic and brand companies in the district courts, before the ITC, and on appeal to the Federal Circuit. As such, we are the authors of the chapter in the American Bar Association’s Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook on patent litigation from the standpoint of the generic applicant.
Stem Cell Technology
Kenyon’s legal expertise in stem cell related technology is wide ranging and encompasses the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, strategic advice and counseling, due diligence, and third party patent clearance. The stem cell technology involved is diverse and includes therapeutic uses of stem cells, use of stem cells as vehicles for gene therapy, stem cell isolation, culturing, and differentiation techniques, as well as therapeutic and reproductive cloning.
Kenyon also provides legal services in the stem cell area to a number of universities and research institutes and/or their affiliated start-ups. This work includes patent preparation and prosecution, strategic counseling regarding proposed research and license arrangements with industry partners, and third party patent clearance. Technologies we have worked with in this context include the use of adult mesenchymal stem cells and their associated factors for use in cardiac repair, the use of stem cells as pacemaker delivery systems, the isolation and culturing of amniotic derived stem cells and their therapeutic use in treatment of a number of disorders including those of the liver and pancreas, the use of fetal stem cells for cardiac and neurological repair, and directed differentiation of adult stem cells.
Chemicals and Materials Science
As IP counsel to the world’s largest global paints and coatings company, which is a leading producer of specialty chemicals, we have significant experience representing companies engaging in the research and/or manufacture of chemicals and materials. With attorneys having career experience as chemists, and many others which hold advanced degrees in fields of chemical engineering and materials science, we provide the full range of IP services to start-up and established producers of pharmaceuticals (human health and animal health), consumer chemical products, oils, petrochemicals, industrial chemicals, specialty chemicals, coatings, fibers, polymers, plastics and synthetics, crop protection products, and additives and catalysts. We also counsel clients involved in the processing of materials used in the development of medical and electronic devices, and biomedical materials. We draw upon our industry-specific knowledge to develop IP strategies which afford our clients an advantage in the marketplace.