Patrick Kelly focuses his practice on intellectual property matters within the life sciences industry. Pat has experience serving as an advisor to pharmaceutical, biotech and scientific instrumentation companies in all aspects of patent law, including preparing and prosecuting patent applications, formulating and maintaining biotech intellectual property estates, due diligence, freedom-to-operate studies and licensing. He has also represented pharmaceutical companies in intellectual property litigation matters, including patent infringement and abbreviated new drug applications.

Pat began his career as an academic scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology. He has expertise in biochemistry, immunology, virology, proteomics, genomics, transgenic animals, gene therapy and drug delivery systems. Prior to joining Stradley Ronon, Pat was a partner in patent and general practice law firms, and served as an advisor to start-up programs and medical technology incubators.

In addition to his practice as external patent counsel, Pat has served as on-site patent counsel for his clients. In particular, a biotech/pharmaceutical company where he served as acting director of intellectual property. He was responsible for a wide variety of patent matters, including review of invention disclosures, due diligence reviews, freedom-to-operate opinions and preparation and review of licensing agreements.

Pat also served as on-site patent counsel for the life sciences and chemical analysis division of a major scientific instrument company. His responsibilities included review of invention disclosures for filing decisions, patent application drafting and prosecution.