Jennifer Giordano-Coltart, focuses her practice on patent prosecution, portfolio management, transactional matters, and intellectual property strategy in the life sciences, biotechnology, and medical device fields. She prosecutes patents for clients in the U.S. and abroad and provides patentability, patent validity, infringement, and freedom-to-operate counseling to facilitate her clients’ business goals.
In addition, Dr. Giordano-Coltart assists her clients with licensing and acquisitions, including patent analyses and negotiations. She also provides technical assistance on litigation matters and actions before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Dr. Giordano-Coltart’s experience with a wide range of clients—investment groups, start-ups, mid-size and growing companies, and large, established industry leaders—informs her ability to tailor intellectual property strategies to the needs of her clients.
Dr. Giordano-Coltart has broad research experience and knowledge in the life sciences, including molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, immunology, vaccines, physiology, and cancer biology, in addition to biologics, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and various medical devices.
She conducted her doctoral research at Cornell University Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where her research focused on human DNA replication. She has also conducted research in the areas of intracellular trafficking, apoptosis, and human genetic diseases.
During law school, Dr. Giordano-Coltart wrote and edited for the Duke Law & Technology Review, in addition to acting as President of the Intellectual Property & Cyberlaw Society. She is a member of the Editorial Board for Current Stem Cell Reportsand also regularly publishes on patent law issues of interest to the life science and biotechnology industries, including contributing to Kilpatrick Townsend’s FDA ConneKTion Blog.
Experience:
- Represent a number of universities in North Carolina and Georgia in connection with patent prosecution of inventions.
- Represented an indigent client in legitimation proceeding in North Carolina Superior Court for three minor children where the client married after the death of the first child’s mother. The case required coordination with translators, appointment of and interaction with Guardian ad Litem, and interaction with the court to determine proper procedure for filing petition for legitimation. Case pending.
- Provided patent counseling services including patent license review, dispute resolution and pre-litigation counseling to leading pharmaceuticals manufacturer related to reexamination and reissue applications for large and small molecule therapeutics.
- Represent a leading clinical laboratory services provider in intellectual property related services, including freedom to operate analyses, patent license negotiation and review, collaborative research and development agreement preparation and analysis, patent prosecution and litigation services and due diligence and pre-litigation counseling. Technologies include clinical diagnostic services; robotics; bioinformatics; genome mapping; genetic testing; gene mapping and counseling; companion diagnostics; blood testing services, and biotechnology.
- Represent an emerging drug discovery company with small and large molecule therapeutics with respect to patent prosecution and related counseling. Assisted with providing transactional related patent due diligence services, including performance of patent related due diligence on potential partners, and responding to patent related due diligence requests from potential partners. Also, the firm assisted in the drafting and negotiation of strategic partnership agreements, joint development agreements, patent license agreements, employment and consulting agreements and related transactional documents.
- Represent children and/or their best interests in a variety of settings and courts. Lawyers routinely serve as guardians ad litem, representing the best interests of children in a variety of contexts. In Atlanta and in Winston-Salem, lawyers have represented the best interests of hundreds of children whose parents are disputing their custody. The guardian ad litem is charged with getting to know the child, studying the circumstances of the child’s life, interviewing witnesses, reviewing documents and ultimately, making an oral or written recommendation to the appointing court as to what is in the child’s best interests.
- The firm assisted one of the world’s largest clinical laboratory networks in its acquisition of an international biotechnology laboratory. Our work included due diligence on the laboratory’s oncology, virology, microfluidics and reagent technology and over 200 related patents and applications. We also assisted with acquisition documents and post-closing transition of the intellectual property.
Education:
- Duke University School of Law, J.D. (2008)
- Cornell University, Ph.D., Molecular Biology (2005)
- University of Alberta, B.S., Biological Sciences – Molecular Genetics (1999) with honors
Admissions:
- North Carolina (2008)
Court Admissions:
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (2008)
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2009)
Cost
Rate : $$$