PALO ALTO, Calif. /eNewsChannels/ — Virtual Law Partners LLP is very pleased to announce an expansion of its Intellectual Property practice with the addition of Jim Markey and Charlie Oh as partners in New York and California.
Mr. Markey joins Virtual Law Partners from Duane Morris, where he served as Chair of the Life Sciences Interdisciplinary Group in New York and represented clients in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, industrial gases and chemicals, and apparel industries. Prior to Duane Morris, he was a partner at Jones Day and Pennie & Edmonds.
“I have practiced IP law at major firms for about 25 years, during which time most IP practices have either merged into mega firms or sought to emulate such firms,” said Mr. Markey. “VLP appealed to me as an ideal platform to provide top level services to my clients without the huge overhead of traditional law firms. Particularly in today’s economy, businesses are seeking innovative ways to maintain high quality while decreasing expenses.”
Dr. Oh joins VLP from the Silicon Valley office of Dechert, where he was a senior attorney in the Patent Counseling Group and represented leading companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, clean technology and life sciences industries.
“VLP’s talented team of attorneys and its virtual law firm model were a great fit for me and my practice, and I look forward to working with Mr. Markey and the other attorneys in the group,” added Dr. Oh.
Mr. Markey’s practice is focused on patent and trademark counseling and prosecution. He has extensive experience in reissue applications, including multiple related reissue applications, and reexamination matters and proceedings, including merged reexaminations. Mr. Markey’s background also includes over a decade of intellectual property litigation and trial experience in a variety of technical fields.
Prior to practicing law, Mr. Markey worked as a design engineer for a heat transfer equipment manufacturer in the chemical process and energy industries. Admitted to practice in New York and Florida and registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Markey is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law and a graduate of Manhattan College with a B.E. in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Oh’s practice encompasses all aspects of patent counseling, including developing and procuring worldwide patent portfolios covering developmental and commercial products; providing assessments and opinions on patentability, freedom-to-operate, non-infringement and validity; evaluating intellectual property portfolios in connection with financings and industry collaborations; and mining patent portfolios for opportunities to maximize portfolio value. He specializes in strategic counseling and patent portfolio management in technology areas such as biologics (e.g., antibodies and peptide drugs), enzymes, drug discovery, drug formulations, vaccines, nutraceuticals, and diagnostics.
Prior to his legal career, Dr. Oh was a post-doctoral fellow at U.C. Berkeley, the California Institute of Technology, and U.C. San Francisco, where he carried out inter-disciplinary research covering the fields of neurobiology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. Admitted to practice in California and registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Dr. Oh is a graduate of U.C. Hastings College of Law. He received a B.S. in Biochemistry from U.C. Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University.
“We are truly excited to have Jim and Charlie join our growing Intellectual Property practice,” stated Practice Leader David Roise. “Jim brings us an extremely broad and deep expertise in all areas of IP law, and, in particular, in post-issuance patent proceedings. This is an area of practice that is of major importance to many of our clients and complements our already outstanding group of patent prosecutors. Charlie has years of experience in the basic life sciences prior to beginning his law career. He bolsters our already strong life sciences practice and will provide exceptional patent counseling services for our clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences industries.”
About VLP’s Intellectual Property Practice:
VLP’s Intellectual Property practice is dedicated to providing the best protection for our clients’ intellectual property at the most cost-effective rates available. Our attorneys and staff provide services directed to meeting the particular needs and stage of development of our clients across a range of industries, including biotechnology, high technology, clean technology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, software and other cutting edge technologies. We provide counseling, strategic advice and specific protection in all areas of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret.
About VLP:
Founded in 2008, VLP is a virtually connected and geographically distributed law firm. VLP currently has 32 attorneys, each with outstanding credentials and an average of over 10 years of experience. VLP operates virtually, and VLP’s proprietary technology platform allows the firm to collaborate easily and to operate with a small, highly specialized staff, passing the savings to clients through substantially lower rates or flat fee arrangements (often 50% of the cost of traditional legal services). At VLP, we’re dedicated to proving that expensive buildings don’t provide great service – great people do.
For more information about VLP, visit www.virtuallawpartners.com .
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Story References: Virtual Law Partners LLP, virtually connected and geographically distributed law firm, Intellectual Property practice, David Roise, Attorney Jim Markey, Attorney Charlie Oh, represented clients in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, industrial gases and chemicals, and apparel industries, IP law, biologics, VLP.
