Charles Lyon > Choate, Hall & Stewart > Boston, United States > Lawyer Profile

Choate, Hall & Stewart
TWO INTERNATIONAL PLACE
BOSTON, MA 02110
MASSACHUSETTS
United States

Position

Dr. Charles Lyon, co-chair of Choate’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, provides strategic insight to investors and life sciences companies, both VC-backed and publicly-traded, to help them maximize the value of their investments in intellectual property by condensing complex data into actionable insights. Through hundreds of due diligence and intellectual property analysis projects, Charles has helped clients to understand, evaluate, and respond to IP issues that arise in the context of business transactions or during the research and development of new products and technologies. His insights have helped clients to identify “hot” areas in the life sciences landscape which have driven their strategic investment decisions – notably in the areas of immuno-oncology, gene therapy, gene editing, and cell therapy. He also routinely provides advice and opinions regarding freedom-to-operate and intellectual property landscape issues to assist with R&D decisions and in the context of pre-litigation disputes including Hatch-Waxman and Biosimilar litigation.

Charles has served investor clients including Bain Capital, Deerfield Management, 5AM Ventures, Third Rock Ventures, Venrock, Perceptive Advisors, and Broadview Ventures and life sciences companies including Takeda, Gilead, Biogen, GEMoaB, Editas Medicine, and Akouos.

Education

Boston College Law School
JD, 2006
MIT
Postdoctoral Associate, 2000
Biophysical Chemistry
University of Oxford
DPhil, 1999
Biophysical Chemistry
University of Cambridge
BA, 1996, First Class Honors
Natural Sciences

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)

From the firm’s Boston base, pharma research specialist Kristen Buteau and Brian Reese co-lead Choate, Hall & Stewart‘s patent prosecution group which is noted as making ‘everything so easy for the client’. The team has a focus on life sciences-related work in particular; expert in the sector Brenda Herschbach Jarrell is a standout member of the cohort, who is highlighted as being ‘particularly creative with her IP solutions for many prosecution, diligence and other matters’. The ‘truly exceptional’ Charles Lyon is equipped to assist investors and life sciences companies in their IP matters, while Stephanie Schonewald has particular expertise handling potentially contentious cases for biotech and pharma companies. Attorney John Rearick departed to Dechert LLP in July 2023.