Global head of the IP practice group William Gaede who splits his time between Silicon Valley and San Franciso, and global head of the patent prosecution group and ‘well-recognized thought leader’ Ahsan Shaikh who splits his time between Silicon Valley and Chicago, oversee the practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. The team is highlighted for its ’distinctive ability to focus on their client’s key value drivers’. The design and implementation of patent filing strategies and the management of portfolios forms a predominant portion of the team’s workload; it notably works on patent application drafting and examination strategies for Meta Platforms. Life sciences and tech are the focus areas for the group. Team changes include the departures of Michael Fogarty, Tokashi Saito, Tomoki Tanida, Jenny Chen, and Michael Siekman.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'The McDermott patent prosecution team is uniquely equipped to understand their clients’ goals, competitors and the business and legal strategies that can help companies excel in today’s competitive global market.'
'A distinguishing factor of the team comes from their approach to innovation – primarily, McDermott’s patent prosecution team prioritizes using innovation and implementing comprehensive patenting strategies while building portfolios. The team has a distinctive ability to focus on their client’s key value drivers, future revenue streams and any potential liabilities that may have an adverse impact on a company’s IP rights.'
'The team brings a unique, business-focused perspective that helps clients maximize the value of their portfolios through licensing, enforcement and other commercialization strategies.'
'McDermott’s team of patent attorneys have high levels of technical skills in non-legal areas such as life sciences, chemistry, engineering, electronics, and software development that makes them standout in the field. They serve as trusted advisors for their clients and their sector expertise in various industries is second-to-none.'
'Ahsan Shaikh draws on his computer sciences background and nearly two decades of patent law experience to provide strategic patent counseling to his clients. Ahsan integrates automated patent drafting into his practice, which helps his clients achieve their business goals more efficiently.'
'Ahsan ensures that every patent program he develops engages all audiences by tailoring appropriate patent incentive, communication and ideation sessions based on the audience and the goal. Notably, Ahsan is also heavily involved in promoting diversity in the IP and innovation space.'
'In his work within and outside McDermott, Ahsan focuses on helping combat the gender, racial and ethnic disparity in patent application filings and issuances within organizations, which contributes to increases in potential innovation output. To support these efforts, Ahsan serves as part of a team at the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) developing a toolkit to better engage women inventors.'
'Ahsan is a well-recognized thought leader and founded two in-house counsel thought leadership groups focused on patent prosecution, which he actively runs.'

Key clients

Amgen Inc.
QuidelOrtho Corporation
Heron Therapeutics, Inc.
Delpor, Inc.
Turn Biotechnologies, Inc.
Meta Platforms
Electronic Arts, Inc.
StubHub
Shutterstock
Splunk
Ava Labs
AppDirect
Sendoso
ResMed Inc.
Priceline.com
See6
CRISPR Therapeutics
Cogent Biosciences
One Home Brands, Inc. dba Blueland, Inc.

Work highlights

Designed and implemented worldwide patent filing strategies for manages the patent filings related to Heron’s FDA approved products SUSTOL, and CINVANTI, and APONVIE.
Advising and working on patent application drafting and examination strategies for Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook).
Handling numerous matters for CRISPR, including patent prosecution matters relating to their immuno-oncology programs.

Lawyers

Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Ahsan Shaikh

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Ahsan Shaikh serves as the head of McDermott’s Patent Prosecution practice. He focuses his practice on strategic patent portfolio management and client counseling for computer-related technology companies. Please visit McDermott website for full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/shaikh-ahsan-a/

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

William Gaede, Ahsan Shaikh

Other key lawyers

Judy Mohr