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David A. Gay, Ph.D. focuses his practice on pharmaceutical and biotechnology intellectual property law. With more than 25 years of experiences in the life sciences arena, David advises established and emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on the strategic design, acquisition, and management of intellectual property rights, with particular emphasis on the integration of business objectives and competitive technologies.

David has experience in evaluating patent portfolios and conducting due diligence investigations for venture capital, private, and public financing as well as for mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology areas. Much of David’s practice encompasses patent portfolio management, U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, post-grant proceedings, freedom-to-operate investigations, due diligence analyses, and validity and infringement analyses.

David works closely with clients in the area of strategic planning; he advises corporations on the management of portfolios in areas including metabolic engineering, protein and small molecule therapeutics, humanized and fully human antibodies, immunomodulatory agents, cell therapy, including stem and iPSC therapy, gene therapy, pharmaceutical formulations, genomics, proteomics, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics, nanotechnology, biosensors and diagnostics, as well as in diverse areas of biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology.

Before becoming a lawyer, David earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Concentrations

  • Life sciences and health care
  • Patent portfolio management and strategic counseling
  • IP due diligence
  • Biotechnology

Capabilities

Recognition & Leadership

  • Listed, Daily Journal, “Top 25 IP Portfolio Managers in California,” 2012-2015
  • Listed, Daily Transcript, “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers in San Diego County,” 2008
  • Member, American Bar Association
    • Member, Section on Intellectual Property Law
      • Co-Chair, Special Committee on Biosciences and Chemical Practice, 2006-2008
      • Co-Chair, Licensing Committee, 2005-2006
        • Chair, Patent Licensing Subcommittee, 2004-2005
  • Member, BIOCOM, CALBIO Program Committee, 2005

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., University of San Diego School of Law, 2002
  • Ph.D., Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1989
  • B.A., Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, 1984
Admissions
  • California
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Related Capabilities

Intellectual Property & Technology Patents and Innovation Strategies Life Sciences & Medical Technology