William Gaede > McDermott Will & Emery LLP > Silicon Valley, United States > Lawyer Profile

McDermott Will & Emery LLP employs the full bench strength of office locations across North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, providing expertise in counselling and enforcement, to household names such as Hitachi and the New York Life Insurance Company, across such sectors as food and beverages, fintech, professional services, transportation, insurance, consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, and apparel. The team is headed by trademark prosecution authority Christina Martini in Chicago and life sciences and medical industry expert William Gaede in Silicon Valley. In Washington DC, Robert Zelnick counsels clients on brand building and trademark licensing. Other key figures include international brand strategist Jennifer Mikulina in Chicago, domain name specialist Sarah Bro at the Orange County office, and associate Eleanor Atkins at the DC office.

Silicon Valley-based intellectual property head William Gaede, Chicago-based patent prosecution head Ahsan Shaikh, who leads on a number of the team’s prominent matters, and Boston-based IP transactions and licensing head Edward Gordon , are key leaders of the team at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, with Silicon Valley’s Judy Mohr particularly focused on pharmaceutical and medical device matters, developing and defending portfolios for clients in these industries. The team continues to represent major clients such as Meta and related platforms, Panasonic and EA, with Boston’s Jenny Chen and Michael Siekman leading on key matters, an example being the multi-jurisdictional life sciences patent prosecution matter regarding a number of CRISPR Therapeutics’ lead programs. Partner Margaret Sampson notably joined the team in Austin, Texas from Baker Botts L.L.P. in July 2022.

Douglas Carsten leads McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s life sciences industry group from Orange County. The ‘quality’ team exhibits ‘industry knowledge and innovative thinking‘ as it advises private equity and venture capital firms investing in life sciences on financings and deals, as well as digital health and technology companies seeking assistance regarding FDA and regulatory issues. Pollard primarily dispenses regulatory and corporate advice to medical device and biotech companies on matters concerning clinical research, post-market safety and compliance with FDA regulated products, and manufacturing. The ‘masterful‘ Carsten is a ‘tremendous litigator‘ who acts in lucrative patent and Hatch-Waxman cases. Working out of the Boston office, Sarah Chapin Columbia focuses on IP and patent litigation, while Michael Siekman assists with the development and defense of biotech patent portfolios and acquisitions. William Gaede supports the team from Silicon Valley with his experience in life science technology IP litigations concerning small molecules, proteins, and diagnostics. Counsel Anisa Mohanty, based in Washington DC, has extensive expertise in pre-market FDA strategy and post-market compliance, often advising medical product manufacturers and biotech companies. Vernessa Pollard departed the team to join DLA Piper LLP (US) in February 2024.