Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

Dr. Cimbala is a director in the Biotechnology/Chemical Group.  Her practice is focused on biotechnology patent procurement and evaluation, including the preparation of patent applications, their prosecution and appeal, and related opinion matters.

Her technical expertise is in the area of biotechnology, and especially molecular biology, enzymology, and molecular endocrinology.  Dr. Cimbala also has experience in clean technology industrial enzyme applications for the pulp and paper industry and in textile processing.

Dr. Cimbala completed her postdoctoral research with Dr. Richard Hansen at Case Western Reserve University.  Before changing her career into patent law, she was an Assistant Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.  While at Worcester, her research was funded by grants from the NIH, the American Diabetes Association, and the March of Dimes, and concerned the molecular mechanism of peptide hormone action.  She was a member of the NIH Biomedical Sciences-2 Study Section.

Dr. Cimbala is also an avid amateur radio operator.  She holds Extra Class license WK3X from the FCC.  Dr. Cimbala is a former Radio Officer of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) for Montgomery County, Maryland.  She is also very active with the Laurel, Maryland, VEC (Volunteer Examination Coordinator) group, which tests applicants for new amateur radio licenses, and is the Secretary and Rules Custodian for the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (www.ncvec.org).

SKGF has been ranked in the Top Ten for patent quality in the US in a survey that was conducted by Ocean Tomo, a merchant bank that specializes in IP assets.  Survey results were published in the March/April 2010 issue of Intellectual Asset Management.  This survey used a detailed system for determining the value of a patent, based on a large number of factors that have been shown to correlate directly with a company's decision to invest in a patent by paying periodic maintenance fees to hold onto the patent rights.