Vera Nackovic

Vera A. Nackovic is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Intellectual Property practice based in the Chicago office. She is a Registered Patent Attorney focusing on pharmaceutical, biologics, medical devices,  nutraceuticals, and chemical patent matters with a particular emphasis on intellectual property transactions,  the strategic development of global patent portfolios, and patent litigation.

Vera evaluates, structures and manages the IP and regulatory assessments of commercial transactions, including IP due diligence for stock and asset acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, and strategic alliances involving US, foreign, and multinational corporations.  Further, Vera drafts and negotiates patent licenses, joint venture and collaboration agreements, and product distribution agreements.

She represents innovator pharmaceutical companies in patent litigations including those brought under the Hatch-Waxman and Public Health Services (biologics) Acts, and advises clients on how to successfully settle those litigations. Vera also defends clients in investigations brought by the Federal Trade Commission involving alleged “reverse payment” settlements.

Further, Vera develops global patent and lifecycle management strategies for prescription and OTC drugs, medical devices, and biologics. She also renders opinions on freedom-to-operate, validity and patentability issues and works with her clients to align their IP and regulatory strategies to maximize the value and exclusivity of their products.

Education :

• Saint Mary’s College, BS, Biochemistry
• Valparaiso University School of Law, JD, magna cum laude

Admissions :

• Illinois
• US Patent and Trademark Office
• Illinois Supreme Court
• US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• US District Court for the District of Colorado

Activities :

• PILI (Public Interest Law Initiative) Fellow, Access Living, Chicago (Summer, 2003)
• Guest speaker on patent prosecution issues at annual meetings of the Practising Law Institute

Experience :

• Led the IP due diligence on behalf of a global pharmaceutical company in the potential multi-billion dollar acquisition of a target pharmaceutical company.
• Led patent due diligence on behalf of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Cadence Pharmaceuticals.
• Represented Syngenta Crop Protection AG in the intellectual property aspects of the purchase by its U.S. affiliate, Syngenta Flowers of the chrysanthemum and asters business of Yoder Brothers Inc.
• Represented the largest of the Golden Harvest companies in the intellectual property aspects involved in the sale of a 90-percent interest in those companies to Syngenta for about $180 million
• Won a consent judgment of patent validity and infringement for Solvay Pharmaceuticals subsidiaries in two consolidated patent cases brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act involving the first FDA approved transdermal gel product (Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Paddock Laboratories, N.D. Ga.)
• Achieved a successful settlement for I.V. House in two patent actions involving medical devices (IV House, Inc. v. Shesol, E.D. Mo., and Shesol v. IV House, Inc., D. Colo.)
• Obtained final written decisions for upholding the patentability of over 75% of the our client, DSM’s 225 challenged claims in 8 patents across 10 inter partes reviews at the PTAB.
• Represents a pharmaceutical client in an arbitration against its licensee relating to underpayment of licensing fees derived from patented biologics technology.