COVER STORY
MAY 22-28, 2009
Two Denver law firms win patent work from NIH
to be better known locally,” said
Swanson, who has a doctorate in
organic chemistry.
Connell heard three years ago
that the contract to help manage
NIH patents was coming up for
renewal. He reached out to Swanson & Bratschun, another intellectual property firm with sizable
biotech patent experience and local headquarters.
by Greg Avery
DENVER Business Journal
If federal biotechnology researchers hit upon a new HIV or
cancer treatment, Denver-area
attorneys might be the ones handling the patent process.
Sheridan Ross PC, with 35
lawyers in downtown Denver, and
Swanson & Bratschun LLP, with
12 in Highlands Ranch, teamed
to win a prestigious contract to
handle biotechnology patents for
the National Institutes of Health
for the next 10 years.
“It’s great work, very exciting stuff,” said Gary Connell, a
Sheridan Ross principal attorney
who organized the team’s bid.
“This is the leading scientific research in the world.”
The team of 16 lawyers from
the two boutique law practices
are among six intellectual property law firms nationwide selected through competitive bidding
by the NIH. The law firms collectively are expected to manage
about $195 million worth of legal
work on biotech patents for NIH.
Patented technology coming
from NIH labs is more than just
scientifically cutting edge: It’s
also financially important to the
agency.
The NIH’s 27 research institutes — which comprise the
world’s largest biomedical research institution — patent discoveries and license out many
of them for commercialization.
Such technology transfer generated $97 million in 2008 royalty
payments for the NIH to spend
on other research.
The labs produce between 200
and 300 new patent applications
a year, and the NIH has a portfolio of 1,300 patents that needs
management. Both kinds of work
The two firms handle
patents for large multinational technology firms,
small startup biotechs
and everything in between. About 70 percent
of their work comes from
outside Colorado.
Kathleen Lavine | Business Journal
Gary Connell of Sheridan Ross and Barry Swanson of Swanson & Bratschun
joined forces to win a prestigious contract to handle biotechnology patents
for the National Institutes of Health for the next 10 years. The award is expected to raise the profile of the two law firms.
are included in the national contract.
“One contractor would not be
able to handle the volume,” said
Erin Flynn, an NIH contracting
officer for patent protection.
The technologies include
possible cancer and HIV treatment breakthroughs, protections
against infectious disease, new
general medical techniques, cutting-edge biomedical devices,
software and research tools.
The Sheridan Ross-Swanson &
Bratschun team’s win is expected
to raise the firms’ profiles in an
intellectual property niche dominated by national law firms from
the east and west coasts.
The two firms handle patents
for large multinational technology firms, small startup biotechs
and everything in between. About
70 percent of their work comes
from outside Colorado.
But sometimes they’re overshadowed by national firms
when competing for new business in biotech, especially among
startups, because investors and
shareholders demand the comfort of hiring a nationally known
name, said Barry Swanson, a cofounder and partner of Swanson
& Bratschun.
“These are practices that have
national, if not international,
reputations, but it would be nice
Connell and Swanson said
staffers are excited at the prospect of handling diverse patent
work coming from NIH entities
such as the National Cancer Institute, National Eye Institute
or National Human Genome
Project.
It took hundreds of hours,
three bid submissions as thick
as a metro-area phone book and
beating out several national law
firms to win the NIH work, Connell said.
The team of lawyers and patent
agents — eight from Swanson &
Bratschun, six from Sheridan
Ross and two contractors — has
11 doctoral degrees in scientific
specialities, including immunology, virology, organic chemistry
and microbiology.
The team expects to receive
a portfolio of at least 150 active
NIH biotech patents to manage.
The team will bid against the
other five firms to handle new
patents coming from NIH labs.
Reprinted for web use with permission from the Denver Business Journal. ©2009, all rights reserved. Reprinted by Scoop ReprintSource 1-800-767-3263.