Emily Whelan > WilmerHale > Boston, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices

60 STATE STREET
BOSTON, MA 02109
MASSACHUSETTS
United States
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Emily Whelan

Work Department
Intellectual Property Counseling and Prosecution; Intellectual Property Litigation; Life Sciences; Post-Grant Proceedings; Trials
Position
Partner
Chair, Intellectual Property Department
Career
Ms. Whelan’s practice includes Patent Office practice, litigation, and counseling in the field of life sciences, including chemistry, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Her experience includes patent strategy across the spectrum from pre-litigation investigation and litigation, to Patent Office post-grant proceedings including inter partes review and reexamination, to analysis of the competitive landscape and IP due diligence, as well as obtaining patent protection and portfolio management.
Practice highlights include being part of teams involved in:
- Representing innovator pharmaceutical companies in ANDA, biosimilars, and other patent litigation involving pharmaceutical and biotechnology patents;
- Inter partes review of patents in pharmaceutical and semiconductor fields;
- Patent prosecution and reexamination of patents in chemical technologies, including new battery materials;
- IP due diligence and analysis of competitor patents in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and food industries; and
- Managing patent portfolios including small molecules, pharmaceutical formulations, and treatment methods for pharmaceutical companies.
Professional Activities
Ms. Whelan is a member of the Board of Governors of the Boston Patent Law Association. Ms. Whelan is also a member of the PTAB Bar Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Memberships
Bar Admissions:
Massachusetts
Other Organizations:
American Bar Association
Boston Bar Association
Massachusetts Bar Association
Education
Harvard Law School , J.D. cum laude (2000)
Cornell University , A.B. summa cum laude (1997)
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
WilmerHale maintains its reputation as an ‘exceptional firm for high stakes patent litigation’, with clients praising their ‘sophisticated, winning strategies’. The team excel at complex medical technology and high-technology patent trials, maintaining relationships with notable clients, including Comcast Cable Communications, Google, and T-Mobile. Leading the practice are four specialists. Amy Wigmore, based in Washington DC, and Emily Whelan, based in Boston, both specialize in high-stakes litigation within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. They are joined by Mark Selwyn, a leading attorney for both high-profile and emerging technology companies and Joseph Haag, both of whom are based out of Palo Alto. The team is further bolstered by William Lee, from Boston, renowned for his seasoned experience as lead counsel in high-stakes technology disputes. Elsewhere, Brittany Amadi, from Washington DC, and Joseph Mueller, based in Boston, stand out for their leading work on patent litigation matters at the trial and appellate stages. First-chair trial attorney Sonal Mehta is another key practitioner from Palo Alto representing notable technology companies on high-stakes disputes. Additionally, Boston’s Omar Khan extends the team’s offering with his expertise in life sciences cases.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Firm Rankings
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Government > State attorneys general
- International trade and national security > Trade remedies and trade policy
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Finance > Financial services regulation