Boston, MA – Mintz is expanding its Life Sciences and Intellectual Property practice with the arrival of a team of patent experts, including Members Dean Farmer, Serge Banini and Of Counsel James Whittle. The team – previously at Cooley – focuses on patent due diligence, strategic portfolio management and patent prosecution. They anticipate additional professionals joining them as well.

Led by Mr Farmer, the team enhances Mintz’s already strong Life Sciences IP prosecution and strategy practice on the East Coast, and builds on one of the country’s strongest Life Sciences IP practices within a full service firm. The team brings with it deep rooted expertise in the local market and decades of experience supporting biotech and pharmaceutical clients.  

“Dean is a highly sought-after attorney and will be a tremendous resource for our clients,” said Bob Bodian, Managing Member at Mintz. “He is widely known for his strategic insights and role as trusted advisor to life sciences companies in developing IP strategies that overlay their business goals and achieve exclusivity in the marketplace. He is a valuable addition to our deep and talented IP and life science industry teams.”

“This team has three PhDs: two in chemistry and one in biology, demonstrating the sheer talent that it will bring to our practice and our firm,” Mintz Member and IP Chair, Michael Renaud commented. “Through their addition, we are offering our clients access to the best and brightest legal and scientific minds in the industry, and we are pleased that they are joining us.”

Mr Farmer is a leading patent strategist in the life sciences sector who works with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies at all stages of development. His clients range from start-ups, to mid-size pharmas with NCEs entering clinical trials, to large companies with vast patent portfolios.

Mr Banini focuses his practice on the preparation and prosecution of US and international patent applications, primarily in the life sciences and technology sectors. He has significant experience in the chemical, polymer chemistry, pharmaceutical, biomedical, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and semiconductor arts.

Mr Whittle is an experienced patent attorney and accomplished research scientist who advises life sciences companies on patent prosecution matters. He has significant experience helping gene therapy, cell therapy, and genomics companies build and manage patent portfolios.

The arrival of Mr Farmer and Mr Banini is set against the backdrop of a number of new high-profile Member additions to Mintz’s Life Sciences practice since the start of the year. In March, Michael Maline joined the firm’s New York office from DLA Piper.

The Mintz IP team consists of more than 115 attorneys, patent agents and technical advisors who handle the full range of IP services for our clients, including patent litigation and prosecution, trade secrets counseling and litigation, trademark registration and litigation, and technology transactions. Among our team are more than 30 attorneys who hold PhDs in a spectrum of biologic and chemical fields. The Mintz Life Sciences team comprises more than 200 IP, transactional, commercial litigation, and health regulatory attorneys who represent biotechnology, pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies throughout the company lifecycle.

For more information about Mintz, please visit www.mintz.com.