Fish & Richardson Principal, Dr. Janis Fraser, Named 2011 "Top Woman of Law" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Boston, MA, September 7, 2011 - Fish & Richardson announced today that Dr. Janis K. Fraser, a principal in the firm's Patent Group, has been named a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly 2011 "Top Woman of Law." This prestigious award is given to an elite group of women lawyers who have made important contributions to the legal community through outstanding leadership, vision, passion, and advocacy. Dr. Fraser will be honored at a reception on September 23, 2011 in Boston.

At Fish, Dr. Fraser has provided strategic patent advice to clients ranging from startup biotech companies to multinational pharmaceutical corporations to academic institutions for over 20 years. She assists clients in obtaining, or defending in reexamination, U.S. patents for inventions concerning genes, recombinant proteins, antibodies, transgenic animals, pharmaceutical compounds and formulations, methods of treatment, antibody libraries, and screening methods. One of Dr. Fraser's clients was awarded "Inventor of the Year" by the Intellectual Property Owners organization, based on the patents she obtained for their life-saving treatment for newborns.

"We are very proud of Janis' selection as one of the top women lawyers in the region," said Timothy French, managing principal of Fish's Boston office. "A groundbreaker in every sense of the word, Janis has been one of the pioneers in biotechnology patent law from the day she joined the firm. She has helped Fish build its patent practice to its present premier status."

Dr. Fraser serves on the Leadership Council of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In this capacity, Dr. Fraser helps advise the Koch Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated basic research center, in facilitating its goal of bringing together scientists and engineers to discover how cancer behaves at a molecular level and to work on solving real cancer-related problems.

Dr. Fraser received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1985, her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976, and her B.S., with highest distinction, in chemistry from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1971. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Fraser, and her honored peers, talking more about their honor and what it means to them in this short video.