The patent licensing and transactions team at Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP is dedicated to providing counsel to clients across the life sciences, biotechnology, electrical engineering, and software industries on a range of matters, including negotiating patent licensing, transfer agreements, and high-stakes patent settlements. Based in Irvine, Salima Merani, Ph.D., co-chairs the firm’s medical device practice and has an extensive patent-focused practice, including experience as lead counsel in high-value IP transactions for US and international patent portfolios. Also in Irvine, Sabing Lee supports Merani as co-chair of the medical devices practice and focuses on IP due diligence, strategic counseling, and licensing matters for a range of technologies. Based in San Diego, former aerospace engineer Tom Cowan advises aerospace and medical device technologies in IP audits, trade secret protections, license negotiations, and infringement investigations.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team around Salima is for the heavy-lifting and super-important cases, they really do an outstanding job.’
‘I am an inventor. I created something unique, and 82 patent offices didn't want to take on my request for Method of Treatment patents. Knobbe Martens, specifically partner Jason Jardine, did. I now have one published patent and a patent pending. Remarkable company that literally saved my company by helping me navigate the USPTO forms maze.’
‘Jason Jardine, Justin Culbertson, Julia Hanson. Remarkable people!!’
‘Potential clients should know that when Salima is involved, the work is thoughtful, strategic, and highly attuned to real business needs. Any sense of differentiation or added value has come from Salima’s personal expertise, judgment, and collaborative approach rather than from practice-wide initiatives.’
‘Salima Merani stands out well beyond her peers for the depth of her expertise, consistently sound judgment, business understanding, and emotional intelligence. She is able to distill highly complex technical and legal issues into clear, actionable guidance in a way that no other attorney can. Equally important, she is pragmatic, collaborative, and a genuine pleasure to work with - qualities that materially improve the client experience.
‘Salima Merani was phenomenal in negotiating our exclusive IP licensing agreement with the owner entity. She was respectful in negotiations and knew the levers that could be used to create a win-win agreement for the IP owner and us. She understood the needs of a technology startup like ours and looked ahead into the future to circumvent potential problems later on.’
Key clients
- Gynesonics, Inc.
- World View
- Alpheus Medical
- Hongene Biotech Corporation
- Evident Vascular
- Signet Healthcare Partners, LLC and Windham Capital Partners, LLC
- Pacira BioSciences, Inc.
- Cala Health
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
- Kandu Health, Inc.
- Lpoxy Therapeutics
- Conformal Medical, Inc.
Work highlights
Acted for Gynesonics in its acquisition by Hologic for approximately $350 million.
Served as IP counsel to Signet Healthcare Partners, LLC and Windham Capital Partners, LLC, two US-based healthcare investment firms, in connection with a strategic equity investment in PainTEQ to accelerate growth and innovation in interventional spine care.
Acted for Pacira BioSciences, Inc. in connection with its exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement with AmacaThera for the development and commercialization of AMT-143, a novel long-acting formulation of the non-opioid analgesic ropivacaine for postsurgical pain control, and in the client’s acquisition of the remaining 81 percent equity stake of GQ Bio Therapeutics GmbH.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Dr. Salima Merani; Sabing Lee
Other key lawyers
Tom Cowan; Harnik Shukla; Jane Dai, Ph.D.; Jason Jardine; Kimberly Miller, Ph.D.; Terry Tullis; Michael Christensen