Womble Boosts IP Capabilities in California With Patent Team Led by Partner Stephanie Seidman

IRVINE, Calif. (October 16, 2023) – Womble Bond Dickinson announced today the addition of a patent team led by partner Stephanie Seidman in San Diego. The group, which, in addition to Seidman, includes an associate and four technical advisors, holds several advanced degrees, including doctorates in chemical biology, molecular and quantitative biology, neuroscience, and nutritional biochemistry. They join the firm from Dentons.

Seidman has decades of experience advising clients in the biopharma industry on the development and commercialization of patent portfolios. She has drafted and prosecuted hundreds of pharmaceutical, biotechnical, and chemical patents, notably patent portfolios involving complex technologies. Her practice includes patent prosecution, freedom-to-operate analyses, non-infringement and validity analyses, and IP due diligence work in financing and acquisitions.

“Two of the country’s primary life science hubs are in Boston and San Diego. We have an incredible group in Boston, and the addition of Stephanie and her team deepens our capabilities to serve life sciences clients in California and further strengthens our nationwide patent prosecution and litigation practice,” said Preston Heard, who leads the Patent Prosecution and Litigation Practice Group. 

Seidman is recognized for her representation of emerging and developing companies, including private and public companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Her expertise includes molecular biology, therapeutic proteins, small molecules, chemical processes, immunology, screening, stem cells, immunotherapies, and diagnostics. 

“Stephanie and her team bring a powerful combination of legal talent and strong technical backgrounds that will greatly benefit our clients,” said Ryan Cagle, who leads the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Biotech Team.” We look forward to their contributions as we continue to grow in these strategically important areas.”

Before private practice, Seidman was a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She graduated from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry and an M.S. in chemical physics from Indiana University. 

About the other patent professionals:

Laura Westergard (Associate) focuses her practice on patent prosecution and counseling in the fields of life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Westergard earned her doctorate in neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis in the laboratory of Dr. David Harris and was a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University. Her postdoctoral work included identifying factors influencing protein misfolding and aggregation, a characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases. Before graduate school, Westergard worked as a research associate in molecular biology at a start-up biotechnology firm in the San Francisco Bay area.

Karen Chiu (Technical Advisor) focuses on patent prosecution in the fields of life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. She earned her doctorate in nutritional biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she worked in the laboratory of Professor Jodi Flaws. Earlier in her career, Chiu worked as the lead commercialization analyst at the Office of Technology Management at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she performed due diligence and landscape analyses in engineering, physical sciences, life sciences, agricultural sciences, and software.

Daniel Kremer (Technical Advisor) concentrates on patent prosecution concerning cell therapies and immunotherapy. He earned his doctorate in chemical biology from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. Before private practice, Kremer was a postdoctoral researcher and postdoctoral research fellow at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. 

Whitney Melroy-Greif (Technical Advisor) concentrates her work on genetic engineering, molecular biology, and cellular biology for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. She holds a doctoral degree and a certificate in behavioral genetics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marissa Ehringer. Prior to private practice, she was a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. Before graduate school, she worked as a research associate in the hybridoma laboratory at Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc.

Julie Paxman (Technical Advisor) holds a doctoral degree in molecular and quantitative biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her dissertation focused on mechanisms of cellular aging, where she used microscopy and microfluidics to uncover a novel interaction between chromosomal instability, ribosomal RNA transcription, and loss of cellular protein homeostasis.