The collective at DLA Piper LLP (US) has been significantly bolstered by the arrival to the West Coast offices of a 30-lawyer IP team from Dentons which includes well-known names in patent prosecution; Peter Yim who has impressive experience handling IPR, PGR and re-examination work arrived to the San Diego office; team lead at his former firm Brian Ho, alongside Randy Omid and Parker Kuhl to San Francisco; Christopher Eide to Palo Alto; and Michael Swett to Seattle. Another key name in San Diego is Lisa Haile who has particular expertise in tech-related cases. Biopharma, life sciences and manufacturing are all industry sectors the team’s workload covers; its cases frequently include assisting with the key elements of the granting of worldwide patents, managing and establishing portfolios and representing clients in the array of patent prosecution as well as litigation matters. Sean Cunningham in San Diego, San Francisco-based Gina Durham and Larissa Bifano who works from the firm’s Boston hub collectively oversee the practice.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The practice team is very helpful in stepping in and providing full service patent prosecution.'
  • 'We are a very small in house team managing an increasingly large number of patent applications, an the DLA team has made it possible to meet our goals.'
  • 'Larissa Bifano manages the team well and ensures feedback is addressed. She also is directly involved with the work, which is not always the case at other firms.'

Key clients

  • Caelum Biosciences
  • Viridos, Inc.
  • Curasen Therapeutics Inc.
  • Personal Genome Diagnostics (PGDx)
  • Codex DNA, Inc.
  • Alloy Therapeutics
  • OrphAI Therapeutics
  • Minovia Therapeutics Ltd.
  • Sight Machine
  • Inozyme Pharma

Work highlights

  • Representing the client in patent, contract and general corporate matters, with an exclusive focus on development of a HIV cure.
  • Advising Sight Machine in its obtaining patent protection for its innovations.
  • Act as patent counsel for Personal Genome Diagnostics, having been instrumental in helping obtain worldwide patent coverage for some of their key diagnostic and therapeutic areas.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
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Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Leading lawyers
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Sean Cunningham, Gina Durham, Larissa Bifano

Other key lawyers

Lisa Haile, Peter Yim, Brian Ho, Randy Omid, Parker Kuhl, Christopher Eide, Michael Swett, William Mulholland