KLARQUIST NEWS
NIH Awards Klarquist with Three Patent Contracts
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the world’s foremost research centers, has awarded Klarquist Sparkman, LLP three ten-year patent prosecution contracts for biotechnology, chemistry, and mechanical-electrical-software inventions.
Of the eight law firms selected to assist the NIH, Klarquist is the only firm in the country to be awarded patent prosecution contracts in all three technical fields.
Overall, the NIH selected six firms to file and manage its biotechnology patents, four firms for chemical patents, and three firms for mechanical/electrical/software (MES) patents.
Bioscience is one of Oregon’s fastest growing industries, creating almost $3.5 billion in revenue and employing thousands of workers in 2007. As one of the few intellectual property firms in Oregon with a thriving bioscience department, Klarquist plays a vital role in this growing industry. Its patent attorneys and agents work on bioscience inventions that span the spectrum from biotechnology and pharmacology to medical devices and software.
The NIH is the United States’ premier governmental biomedical research organization and one of the largest research institutions in the world. It typically produces 300-400 biotech, chemical, electrical, and/or mechanical invention disclosures each year. NIH inventions are licensed to the private sector to help develop innovative medical treatments, start new biotech companies, and generate royalties to fund additional government medical research. The NIH’s technologies include cancer and HIV treatments, new drugs, vaccines, genetic discoveries, bioinformatics, and ground-breaking diagnostic techniques and biomedical devices.
Klarquist has represented the NIH in patent matters for the last twelve years under two prior contracts (in 1997 and 2001). The firm’s NIH work is managed by Dr. William Noonan, a partner at the firm who is both a physician and a patent attorney. “We are pleased that the NIH showed such confidence in our firm by awarding these new contracts to us” he said. “The NIH inventions are challenging work at the leading edge of biomedical science.”
Klarquist Sparkman, LLP is the largest intellectual property law firm in the Pacific Northwest, with 55 attorneys and patent agents, and offices in Portland and Seattle. Twelve members of the firm’s bioscience, chemical, and MES departments hold a doctorate in a range of science and technology fields, and many have also worked in or directed research laboratories. The firm handles patent matters for research institutions, universities, and large and small corporations located in the U.S. and throughout the world. Its clients include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oregon Health & Science University and many other universities, as well as biotechnology, chemical, medical device, and software companies.