Banner & Witcoff enjoys a rich history in the practice of patent law dealing with biotechnology sciences issues. One of the firm’s early cases in this industry was its successful representation of the inventor in the seminal Supreme Court case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty. In that case the Court held for the first time that a living, genetically-altered microorganism constituted patentable subject matter. The Chakrabarty decision spurred new interest in patents, particularly in the then-nascent biotechnology industry.

Our attorneys who practice in this area include five practitioners with Ph.D. degrees, as well as other attorneys with advanced degrees and substantial experience in all phases of biotechnology patent practice. Our lawyers have the ability and experience to understand and communicate with biotech scientists and business people.

Counseling, prosecution, interference and opinion work are important parts of the firm’s biotechnology practice. Our lawyers have organized start-ups, helped prepare initial and secondary public offerings, and handled countless technology transfers and patent prosecutions, both domestic and foreign.

Our clients include large sophisticated companies as well as smaller start-up companies. The broad range of technology encompassed by past experience includes pharmaceutical products, recombinant DNA, protein, diagnostics, and recombinant gene, expression systems, anti-sense RNA, ribosomes, small molecule research and more.  Particular emphasis is given to the strategic development of patent portfolios covering client technologies.