Russell Klein
Russell Klein is a Program Director at Siemens EDA’s (formerly Mentor Graphics) High-Level Synthesis Division focused on processor platforms. He is currently working on algorithm acceleration through the offloading of complex algorithms running as software on embedded CPUs into hardware accelerators using High-Level Synthesis. He has been with Mentor for over 25 years, holding a variety of engineering, marketing and management positions, primarily focused on the boundary between hardware and software. He holds six patents in the area of hardware/software verification and optimization. Prior to joining Mentor he worked for Synopsys, Logic Modeling, and Fairchild Semiconductor.
Dror Meiri
Visionary, results oriented business development, product marketing and strategy executive with proven experience in creating value and achieving growth of technology based companies. Leading business innovation and growth through creative and out-of-the-box approach, turning opportunities into profitable business.
Areas of interest include (but not limited to): Self Driving Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, Automotive, Smart Devices and Machines, Wireless, Connectivity, Sensors, Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence.
Matt Hervey
Katherine A. Helm
Katherine A. ("Kassie") Helm, Ph.D., is a first-chair counsel who represents leading innovator pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in patent litigation and patent-adjacent litigation matters. Her doctorate in neuroscience allows her to leverage her scientific background alongside her legal acumen to develop and execute winning positions for life sciences companies in all phases of district court litigation and Federal Circuit and other circuit court appeals, and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She has prevailed in high-stakes cases representing life sciences companies as both plaintiff and defendant in patent infringement actions and as both petitioner and patent owner in Post Grant Reviews (PGRs) and Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) at the PTAB, as well as in interferences and appeals. Dr. Helm is fluent in French and frequently involved in patent disputes with multijurisdictional aspects, including post-issuance patent proceedings around the globe. She regularly plays a leading role in coordinated global patent disputes involving co-pending ex-U.S. proceedings involving biologic therapeutics in the European national courts in patent revocation, nullity and infringement actions, as well as in opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO) and on appeal before the Technical Boards. Dr. Helm and her team have also been successful in utilizing U.S. discovery mechanisms under 28 USC § 1782 to assist with foreign patent litigations and EPO proceedings.
Dr. Helm is a founder of the New York chapter of ChIPs (Chiefs of Intellectual Property), a global nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing and connecting women in law, technology and regulatory policy. She is also a founder of the Lead Counsel Summit, a forthcoming force in the industry for female lead trial counsel. Dr. Helm currently serves as a Vice Chair on the Federal Circuit Bar Association’s Bench & Bar Planning Committee. In 2021, Dr. Helm was individually recognized as a winner of Dechert’s Samuel E. Klein Pro Bono Awards, for her work on behalf of military veterans before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 2023, Dr. Helm was appointed Vice Chair of the Patent Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) for the 2023-2024 bar year and appointed to the ABA-IPL’s Task Force on Improving the Durability and Reliability of the Patent Right for the same period. Dr. Helm has been recognized by numerous publications for her expertise, including by IAM Patent 1000, where in 2023, she was described as someone who “excels in biologics litigation and is a go-to for some of the industry’s major players to handle their most important disputes.”
Robert Cerwinski
Rob Cerwinski, managing partner, is a seasoned patent litigator and IP strategist with 20+ years of experience at premier U.S. law firms helping international clients launch biopharma products into the highly-competitive U.S. market. Mr. Cerwinski specializes in helping companies devise cost-effective strategies to navigate the complex and intertwined legal, regulatory and financial hurdles that can delay or prevent product launch. His successes in pre-litigation strategy and in the courtroom have driven the launch of 20+ biopharma products in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Cerwinski holds a Master of Science Degree in molecular biology and has a deep understanding of the science, business and regulation of biopharma product development, manufacture and marketing. Mr. Cerwinski co-founded the industry-leading biosimilars practice at Goodwin Procter LLP and is a recognized global authority on biosimilars. He is Senior Editor of the leading legal treatise in the field, Guide to Biosimilars Litigation and Regulation in the U.S. (published by Thomson-Reuters) and founded Goodwin’s award-winning biosimilars blog, Big Molecule Watch and its companion blog, Big Molecule Watch China. Mr. Cerwinski was named an IAM Global Leader in Intellectual Property Law in 2021 and is ranked in the Gold Tier of the IAM Patent 1000.
Jenny Davies
Jenny Davies is a life sciences and patent specialist with a Masters in Biochemistry from Oxford. She provides strategic advice to help clients protect and exploit their R&D investment in the life sciences sector, medical device sector and the chemical industry. Her work regularly entails negotiating agreements to support her clients' research, development, manufacture and commercialisation, and protect their markets through the enforcement of patents.
Jenny delivers business-focused solutions across her unique practice area spanning patents and dispute resolution, transactions ranging from strategic licensing to highly complex collaborations and regulatory matters. She advises clients in all aspects of patent enforcement, from technical analysis and global strategy to leading UK litigation and EPO oppositions.
Given the commercial and practical value of the assets Jenny protects, her approach combines precision and detail with a commercial mindset and sector-led solutions. Clients praise her "endless determination", "formidable intellect" and are "deeply impressed" with her "unusual capacity to think creatively".
Her work highlights include leading ground-breaking patent litigation up to the UK Court of Appeal to achieve a novel form of "Arrow declaration" for Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin and advising AstraZeneca across a range of high value and complex transactions: its collaboration with the University of Oxford (COVID-19 vaccine); two $6 billion oncology collaborations with Daiichi Sankyo; an $8.5 billion oncology deal with Merck; and a $300 million oncology deal with Genzyme (Caprelsa).
Jenny is a member of the BioIndustry Association's IP Advisory Committee, and SPC and exclusivities committee, and a regular speaker on patent litigation and strategy.
Alexander de Leeuw
Alexander de Leeuw is an experienced lawyer specialising in national and international patent litigation.
He frequently litigates before the Dutch courts as well as the European Patent Office. Some examples of cases that Alexander worked on concern CRISPR-Cas9 (Broad/MIT/Harvard), pemetrexed (Sandoz), lithography machines (Carl Zeiss), and surgical laser systems (Alcon).
He also regularly deals with and teaches about the protection of trade secrets, and has been involved in high-profile international trade secret litigation.
Mike Cottler
