Dana Severance is an experienced patent litigator in Womble Bond Dickinson’s Delaware office. Dana’s practice focuses on complex patent litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. She regularly represents innovative brand name pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman litigations against generic applicants. Her representations include litigations concerning Rebyota® (a treatment for the prevention of recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection), Firmagon® (a treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer), Nocdurna® (a treatment for nocturia due to idiopathic nocturnal polyuria in adults), and Apriso® (a treatment for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis).
Dana’s experience covers all stages of patent litigation, including pre-suit investigation, fact and expert discovery, trial, post-trial, and appeals. Dana’s practice includes counseling clients regarding patent portfolio evaluation, including advising clients on patent drafting strategy with litigation implications in mind.
In addition to her lead counsel work, Dana provides local counsel services for out of state clients in intellectual property litigation before the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
For the past three years, Dana has served as co-chair of Womble’s litigation training program for its associates—a program Dana revamped to regularly provide associates active, on their feet experience which culminates in a multi-day mock trial.
For nearly two decades, Dana has served as a guardian ad litem for minor children in conjunction with the Office of the Child Advocate of the State of Delaware.
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical client in litigation involving declaratory judgment claims of non-infringement and invalidity. The team successfully argued that the patents at issue were invalid under §§ 112 and 102(f).
- Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical client in litigation in SDNY involving claims for correction of inventorship. The team successfully proved that the opposing party’s alleged inventor did not invent any of the subject matter claimed in two of our client’s patents.
- Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical client in an ANDA litigation involving the company’s peptide drug for treating prostate cancer.
- Lead counsel for an international pharmaceutical company in multiple ANDA litigations regarding a colonoscopy preparation drug product. The court issued an opinion that the first filer’s proposed ANDA product infringed all asserted claims of the patents in suit. The subsequent cases were settled on favorable terms.
- Lead counsel for a branded pharmaceutical company in multiple ANDA litigations regarding composition and method of use patents covering a drug used to treat ulcerative colitis.
- Delaware counsel in numerous intellectual property cases in federal district court.
Professional & Civic Engagement
- Federal Bar Association
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
- Delaware State Bar Association
Thought Leadership
- “2023 Year in Review: AI & Patents,” Association of Corporate Counsel (Greater Philadelphia), January 2024
- “ODP to RIP – How In re Cellect may reduce the life of your patent,” Consero IP Life Sciences Forum, December 2023
- “Infringement, Knowledge, and Intent – Proving Inducement in the Life Sciences,” Consero IP Life Sciences Forum, December 2021
Honors & Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Litigation – Intellectual Property, 2019 – Present
- Recognized in Lawdragon's 500 Leading Litigators in America in Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent, (2023-Present)
- Named to IAM Patent 1000, Litigation, Intellectual Asset Management Magazine, 2020, 2024 - Present
