Fish & Richardson Announces Three Principals Named 2016 Global "Top 250 Women in IP" by Managing Intellectual Property

Fish & Richardson announced today that three of its principals - Juanita Brooks, Dr. Teresa Lavoie, and Dorothy Whelan - were selected by Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) magazine as among the "Top 250 Women in IP" in the world. According to MIP, "These professionals, hailing from a wide assortment of countries, are the stars of the global IP regime."

Brooks is a nationally recognized trial and appellate lawyer who specializes in complex intellectual property litigation, product liability, and qui tam litigation. Her stellar record and impressive reputation has made her one of the most sought after litigators in the nation. Described as "a titan of the patent bar" and an "icon of IP," Brooks has handled more than 150 trials in her career, and handles an average yearly caseload of over 20 patent cases. A master storyteller with an innate ability to decipher sophisticated technologies with words, Brooks has been extraordinarily innovative in her use of graphics in the courtroom - allowing her to explain complex technology to lay jurors and judges. Brooks was named “Litigator of the Year” by American Lawyer in 2014, in addition to the numerous accolades she has received over the years for her litigation success.

Dr. Lavoie brings substantial scientific and legal expertise to the business and regulatory challenges her clients face. She represents a range of life sciences clients, from industry to academia, with an emphasis on early to mid-stage companies. Her practice focuses on client counseling and strategic patent portfolio development, patent opinions, due diligence and freedom-to-operate studies, and patent prosecution. She has extensive experience in the areas of pharmaceuticals, including life cycle management, drug formulation and drug delivery technologies, biopharmaceuticals, small molecules, nanotechnologies, plant biotechnology and genomics, and green/environmental chemistries. She also has significant transactional experience in licensing, feasibility, and development and supply agreements.

Whelan is co-chair of Fish's Post-Grant Practice Group, where she oversees one of the leading post-grant practices in the country. She has handled well over 100 inter partes review (IPR) and covered business method (CBM) matters involving both challenging and defending patents. Whelan also works closely with Fish's litigation teams to design and implement integrated strategies when patents are also the subject of co-pending litigation. In addition to post-grant proceedings, Whelan's practice emphasizes client counseling, strategic patent portfolio design and management, due diligence investigations, and freedom-to-operate studies, particularly in the chemical and materials science areas. She writes and speaks extensively on topics related to post-grant proceedings and is the co-host of Fish's Post-Grant for Practitioners webinar series, as well as being a frequent speaker and panelist at industry and legal seminars.

MIP's research is based on interviews and surveys of women attorneys practicing around the world. Among those interviewed, a small number was chosen to be included in the final list. Together, they represent every major area of IP legal work, including trademark, copyright and patent litigation, prosecution and portfolio management, and trade secret litigation. Their clients range in size and prominence from internationally recognized companies to start-ups. The surveys were conducted from November 2015 to February 2016. This is the first year that MIP has focused on the world's top women IP practitioners versus U.S. practitioners only.