Sterne Kessler

Firm overview:

IP boutique Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox operates as a single-office practice with national and international reach. The firm advises clients across the entire patent life cycle, from portfolio creation and strategic counselling to complex disputes and appellate advocacy. Prosecution is a cornerstone of the practice; Sterne Kessler ranks among the top firms for obtaining design patents, and filed more than 2,300 US utility and design patent applications over the past year.

Sterne Kessler is also active in contentious patent matters, and served as litigation counsel in over 200 patent cases in the past five years; the team also frequently appears before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and is noted as being among the top performers in appellate proceedings. The firm created an in-house AI solution for greater efficiencies in drafting patent applications, Patent Assist AI.

The firm’s client list indicates a deep bench of technical and scientific expertise; BioNTech, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Teva and Volkswagen Group of America have all sought Sterne Kessler’s counsel.

Team overview:

Sterne Kessler’s team includes lawyers, patent agents and technical specialists with more than 100 advanced degrees, including over 60 PhDs, in science and engineering. Former US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examiners and administrative patent judges offer insight into the agency’s practices and decision-making.

Firm chair Michael Ray, also a director in the Electronics Practice Group, leads the practice. Jeremiah Frueauf heads the biotechnology and chemical group, while Michael Specht leads the electronics practice.

The mechanical and design group is overseen by Tracy-Gene Durkin, one of the firm’s most recognised IP counsellors and a leading authority in US design patent law. With more than three decades of experience, Durkin advises on complex design portfolios and enforcement strategies and played a central role in guiding the team behind the firm’s consistently high ranking on the US Design Patent Toteboard.

Deirdre Wells is a director in the Trial & Appellate Practice Group, and a key member of the International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation team.

Trial and appellate matters are led by John Christopher “JC” Rozendaal, who has secured wins for clients including RoboticVISION Tech, Teva, and Hopewell Pharma Ventures.

Eldora Ellison, a director in the Biotechnology & Chemical and Trial & Appellate Practice Groups, is widely regarded as a leading patent strategist. In a career that spans almost three decades, Ellison has built up extensive experience in inter partes patent matters, particularly in the life sciences sector. She represents the University of California in an ongoing interference proceeding related to CRISPR technology.

Key additions to the team over the past year include Jacqueline Wright Bonilla, former deputy chief administrative patent judge at the PTAB, and former PTAB vice chief judge Melissa Haapala.

Key matters:

• PTAB Victories for Meta Platforms

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox obtained final written decisions at the PTAB invalidating all 56 challenged claims across four inter partes reviews, securing a complete PTAB win for Meta Platforms. The patents were asserted against Meta by SitNet.

On the team for Meta are Sterne Kessler directors Jonathan Tuminaro, Michael Specht, Steve Pappas, Jennifer Chagnon, Timothy Tang, and David Haars, and associate Xiaowei Jin.

• Patent prosecution and portfolio work for Bristol-Myers Squibb

Sterne Kessler advises Bristol-Myers Squibb on the prosecution of multiple sophisticated patent portfolios, covering both small- and large-molecule technologies linked to diverse intracellular pathways, including immuno-oncology targets and pathogenic mechanisms. One of the best-recognised molecules is the anti-PD-1 antibody, Opdivo, which is now approved for over 19 cancer indications.

Directors Eldora Ellison, Carla Ji-Eun Kim, Paul Calvo and John Covert lead the team.

• Patent litigation victory for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Sterne Kessler secured a $9.5 million jury verdict for Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals in a patent infringement action in the US District Court for the District of Delaware concerning the company’s INOmax inhaled nitric oxide therapy and related delivery systems.

Mallinckrodt brought suit under the Hatch-Waxman Act against Airgas Therapeutics in 2022. In September 2025, a Delaware jury found that Airgas had infringed claims of three patents belonging to Mallinckrodt.

On Sterne Kessler’s team were directors Dennies Varughese, Deirdre Wells, Adam LaRock, Dan Block, Jonathan Tuminaro, Will Milliken, and Chris O’Brien, counsel Sasha Rao and Christina Dashe, associates Alex Alfano, David Wang, and Ryan Conkin, and student associate Justin Wang.

Clients:

Adidas, Altos Labs, American Regent, Bristol-Myers Squibb, BTL Industries, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Deckers Outdoor, Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals, Hopewell Pharma Ventures, Lyell, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Meta Platforms, Netlist, Neuralight, Roku, SAP, Strand Therapeutics, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Therabody, Thule, University of California, Volkswagen of America, Xeris Biopharma