Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

Dr. Ellison has extensive experience in representing clients in patent reexaminations and concurrent patent litigation in the federal courts, and has overseen more than a dozen patent interferences before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Dr. Ellison's practice also includes counseling clients on intellectual property strategy; evaluating patent portfolios, e.g., for invalidity, non-infringement, freedom-to-operate and due diligence analyses; and preparing and prosecuting patent applications.  Dr. Ellison represents a variety of types of clients, including large multinational corporations, small start-up companies, universities, and other not-for-profit organizations.

Dr. Ellison's intellectual property experience has been principally in technical areas such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, molecular biology, therapeutic methods, diagnostic assays, analytical instruments, immunology, virology, bacteriology and vaccines. 

She lectures frequently on topics such as patent reexamination and concurrent patent litigation, patents and licenses, managing intellectual property, and patent reform, and she serves on the faculty for the District of Columbia Bar's Continuing Legal Education Program.  Dr. Ellison is the Chairperson of the firm's Professional Development Committee.  She also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for Turning Point Academy Public Charter School in Maryland.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• "Impact of The America Invents Act on Patent Challenges at the USPTO," World Intellectual Property Review, 11/4/11

• "America Invents Act: The 5 New Post-Issuance Procedures," The Sedona Conference, 10/13/11

• "What You Need to Know About The America Invents Act of 2011," SKGF webinar, 10/12/11

• "America Invents Act Panel," Eastern District Bench Bar Conference, 9/26/11

• "Patent Litigation at the PTO Under the America Invents Act of 2011," BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, 9/23/11

• "Post-Grant Review Under the America Invents Act of 2011," a podcast from Legal Talk Network of Suffolk University Law School, 9/16/11

• "America Invents: Immediate Changes to Patent Law Start Today," IP Watchdog blog, 9/16/11

• "Best Practices for Building IP and Conducting Due Diligence Investigations," FX Conferences webinar, 5/4/11

• "Licensing and Intellectual Property Workshop," One Med Forum- San Francisco 2011, 1/11/11

• "Patent Reform's Effects On Hatch-Waxman Litigants," Law360, 10/19/10

• "Post-Grant Review: How Will It Affect Your (Client's) Business?", Bloomberg Law Reports, 08/02/10 

• "Challenging Patents Before the USPTO: Looking Ahead to a World of Patent Reexaminations, Post-Grant Reviews and Inter Partes Reviews," The National Law Review, 07/12/10

• "Use of Interferences to Challenge Patents Before the USPTO," The National Law Review, 07/08/10 

• "Litigation or re-examination?" World Intellectual Property Review, Jan/Feb 2010

• "Monetization of Intellectual Property," National Bar Association Corporate Counsel Conference, February 2010.

• "No Data, No Patent? - establishing a credible utility for therapeutic method patents," published by Financier Worldwide in Strategies for Growth, Survival and Patent Protection, January 2010.

• "Emerging Infectious Disease- What We Have Learned from the "Swine Flu" Outbreak" San Diego BioPharma Conference, 2009.

• "Fundamentals of Patents and Licenses for Pharmaceutical and Biotech Products: The New Life Sciences Frontier," Faculty Member for the District of Columbia Bar CLE Course, March 2009.

• "Best Practice,"  Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review, June 2008.

• "Patent Litigation & Interferences," Guest Instructor, The National Institutes of Health, Technology Transfer Course, March 2008 & 2009.

• "Fundamentals of Patents and Licenses for Pharmaceutical and Biotech Products: The New Life Sciences Frontier," Faculty Member for the District of Columbia Bar Continuing Legal Education Course, March 2008.

• "Patent Reform Act of 2007.  Or 2008??  Or 2009??"  Georgetown University Law Center, Guest speaker to the Student Intellectual Property Law Association, February 2008.

•  “U.S. Supreme Court Urges a Less Rigid Approach in Assessing the Obviousness of Inventions,” The Commercial Law Connection, National Bar Association, Summer 2007.

• “Client Development for Women Lawyers – How to Get the Clients You Want and Build Your Book of Business,” Women’s Bar Association, District of Columbia, May 2007.

• “Introduction to Patents & Licensing in the Life Sciences,” Instructor, District of Columbia Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Course, April 2007.

• “Is Your Career on Track,” The Young Lawyer, American Bar Association, February 2007.

• “Managing Your Intellectual Property in a Changing, Perhaps Flatter, World,” National Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Conference, February 2007.

• “US Patent Reform – Will 2006 be Different than 2005?” The CIPA Journal, February 2006.

• “Protecting Your Company’s Assets – Strategies for Positioning Your Product or Brand in the Marketplace – and Keeping it There!”  National Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Conference, February 2006.

• “Patent Reform – Where is it Going and When Will it Get There?”  Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, November 2005.

• “Patent Act of 2005,” The Biojudiciary Project Open House at BIO Convention, June 2005.

• "Natural Resources in Biotechnology," University of Baltimore School of Law, Intellectual Property Law Symposium, 2004.

• "Patentability of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms," IBC USA Symposium on Pharmacogenomics, SNPs & Genetic Patenting, 2000.

• "Biotechnology: Patents, Licensing & FDA Practice," Patent Resources Group's Advanced Biotechnology Patent Law Course Textbook, 2000.

• IBC USA Conference on Genetic Patenting - The State of the Law - The Effect on Science & Medicine - The Impact on Life; Speaker & Chairperson, 1999.

• "Interaction of the Intron-encoded Mobility Endonuclease I-PpoI with its DNA Target Site, Molecular and Cellular Biology 13:7531-7539 (1993).

• "Properties of the Intron-encoded Endonuclease I-PpoI," Invited Speaker, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI , 1993.

• "Characterization of I-PpoI, an Intron-encoded Endonuclease that Mediates Homing of a Group I Intron in the Ribosomal DNA of Physarum Polycephalum," Molecular and Cellular Biology 10:3386-3396 (1990).