David Gass is a registered patent attorney for biotechnology companies, universities, and research institutions, helping to develop and implement IP strategies for commercializing life-improving biotechnology inventions. His practice focuses on acquisition and protection of intellectual property rights, especially patents.  He counsels clients about protection of IP rights, maximizing patent term and patent life-cycle for products, and freedom-to-operate issues relative to the IP rights of others. His experience before the USPTO includes interference, reexamination and reissue proceedings, and patent term adjustment challenges. Mr. Gass also assists clients with international patent portfolio management and licensing, and advises counsel in foreign patent prosecution and opposition proceedings. He chaired panels at the 2010 and 2011 BIO International Conventions on "IP Issues Affecting Biomarker-Based Diagnostics" and will do so again at the 2012 convention in Boston.

Recent Client Work  

  • Counseled research institution and prosecuted portfolio of patent applications relating to angiogenic treatments for ischemic conditions and anti-angiogenic treatments for cancer.  Continued prosecution of portfolio for a startup company built around these technologies.
  • Secured more than 20 U.S. patents and numerous foreign counterpart patents for prominent platform technology for large pharmaceutical company.
  • Assisted with U.S. interference and subsequent prosecution of patent application for important plant biotechnology invention.
  • Provided freedom to operate counseling to clients that wished to develop a product without infringing valid intellectual property rights of third parties.
  • Counseled clients in U.S. interferences and assisted foreign counsel in European and Australian opposition proceedings.

Detailed Biography

Representative Experience

Mr. Gass has assisted clients with intellectual property in a wide variety of biotechnology disciplines, including the following:

  • Recombinant DNA, protein, and antibody technologies
  • Therapeutic antibodies, including humanized antibodies
  • Genomics, proteomics, and epigenetics
  • Medical diagnostics and kits that use genomic, metabolomic, and traditional markers to diagnosis disease or identify susceptibility, for diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes
  • Angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis technologies and circulatory disorders
  • Gene therapy, interfering RNA, and antisense technologies
  • Vaccines and adjuvants, including cancer vaccines
  • Genetic engineering of plants and animals, including transgenic organisms
  • Cancer diagnosis and therapies, and oncogenes
  • Anti-viral therapies, including protease inhibitors
  • Polymerase chain reaction and mass spectrometry
  • Nanotechnology and industrial biopolymers
  • Prions, Alzheimer's disease, and neural regeneration
  • Inflammation and arthritis
  • Metabolic diseases and diabetes
  • Therapeutic methodologies and formulations
  • Stem cell therapies
  • Food and beverage formulations

Background and Credentials

Mr. Gass received his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.  He attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, and graduated with Highest Honors and Highest Distinction with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology.

Prior to attending law school, he worked for two years at the University of Michigan as a researcher studying plant mitochondrial genetics.

Publications and Speeches

  • Patent Protection for Antibody Inventions, Speaker, London, U.K., 2012.
  • "Protecting Diagnostic Inventions in the U.S." Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, September 1, 2011.
  • "Patenting Genes and Diagnostics," Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review 2011, article begins on page 49.
  • "Are Genes Patentable?" Financier Worldwide Magazine, September 2011.
  • 2011 BIO International Convention, Washington D.C.: Panel moderator and speaker on the topic of IP protection for biomarker diagnostics.
  • 2011 Biotechnology and Health-Related Issues Intellectual Property Law Symposium, John Marshall Law School, Chicago: Panelist, provided analysis of IP law and strategies for diagnostic and biomarker-based intellectual property in light of recent legal developments, including high profile Supreme Court and Federal Circuit cases such as Bilski, Myriad (AMP v. USPTO), Mayo v. Prometheus, and Classen.
  • 2010 BIO International Convention, Chicago: Panel moderator and speaker on the topic of IP protection for biomarker diagnostics.
  • "Impact of Recent IP Case law on Biomarkers and Personalized Medicine," Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, May 2011, exploring issues currently facing companies on the forefront of biomarker development and personalized medicine. 
  • "Written Description and Biotech Patents," Pharmaceutical Andrews Litigation Reporter, Vol. 24, Issue 7, September 2008, Thomson Reuters/West.  Review and commentary on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s revised “written description training materials”
  • Mr. Gass also has spoken at companies and universities in Europe and the United States to educate attorneys, researchers, and administrators about the nature and importance of intellectual property rights and how to procure them, and about current developments in biotechnology patent law. 

Community and Professional Involvement

Mr. Gass has served on committees for organizations such as Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) that promote strong intellectual property rights and foster the growth of the biotechnology industry.

Short Biography

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Michigan, B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology

Practices

Industries

Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

News

Events

David A. Gass

Partner

David Gass is a registered patent attorney for biotechnology companies, universities, and research institutions, helping to develop and implement IP strategies for commercializing life-improving biotechnology inventions. His practice focuses on acquisition and protection of intellectual property rights, especially patents.  He counsels clients about protection of IP rights, maximizing patent term and patent life-cycle for products, and freedom-to-operate issues relative to the IP rights of others. His experience before the USPTO includes interference, reexamination and reissue proceedings, and patent term adjustment challenges. Mr. Gass also assists clients with international patent portfolio management and licensing, and advises counsel in foreign patent prosecution and opposition proceedings. He chaired panels at the 2010 and 2011 BIO International Conventions on "IP Issues Affecting Biomarker-Based Diagnostics" and will do so again at the 2012 convention in Boston.

  • T.312.474.6624
  • F.312.474.0448

David A. Gass

David A. Gass

Recent Client Work  

  • Counseled research institution and prosecuted portfolio of patent applications relating to angiogenic treatments for ischemic conditions and anti-angiogenic treatments for cancer.  Continued prosecution of portfolio for a startup company built around these technologies.
  • Secured more than 20 U.S. patents and numerous foreign counterpart patents for prominent platform technology for large pharmaceutical company.
  • Assisted with U.S. interference and subsequent prosecution of patent application for important plant biotechnology invention.
  • Provided freedom to operate counseling to clients that wished to develop a product without infringing valid intellectual property rights of third parties.
  • Counseled clients in U.S. interferences and assisted foreign counsel in European and Australian opposition proceedings.

Detailed Biography

Representative Experience

Mr. Gass has assisted clients with intellectual property in a wide variety of biotechnology disciplines, including the following:

  • Recombinant DNA, protein, and antibody technologies
  • Therapeutic antibodies, including humanized antibodies
  • Genomics, proteomics, and epigenetics
  • Medical diagnostics and kits that use genomic, metabolomic, and traditional markers to diagnosis disease or identify susceptibility, for diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes
  • Angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis technologies and circulatory disorders
  • Gene therapy, interfering RNA, and antisense technologies
  • Vaccines and adjuvants, including cancer vaccines
  • Genetic engineering of plants and animals, including transgenic organisms
  • Cancer diagnosis and therapies, and oncogenes
  • Anti-viral therapies, including protease inhibitors
  • Polymerase chain reaction and mass spectrometry
  • Nanotechnology and industrial biopolymers
  • Prions, Alzheimer's disease, and neural regeneration
  • Inflammation and arthritis
  • Metabolic diseases and diabetes
  • Therapeutic methodologies and formulations
  • Stem cell therapies
  • Food and beverage formulations

Background and Credentials

Mr. Gass received his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.  He attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, and graduated with Highest Honors and Highest Distinction with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology.

Prior to attending law school, he worked for two years at the University of Michigan as a researcher studying plant mitochondrial genetics.

Publications and Speeches

  • Patent Protection for Antibody Inventions, Speaker, London, U.K., 2012.
  • "Protecting Diagnostic Inventions in the U.S." Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, September 1, 2011.
  • "Patenting Genes and Diagnostics," Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review 2011, article begins on page 49.
  • "Are Genes Patentable?" Financier Worldwide Magazine, September 2011.
  • 2011 BIO International Convention, Washington D.C.: Panel moderator and speaker on the topic of IP protection for biomarker diagnostics.
  • 2011 Biotechnology and Health-Related Issues Intellectual Property Law Symposium, John Marshall Law School, Chicago: Panelist, provided analysis of IP law and strategies for diagnostic and biomarker-based intellectual property in light of recent legal developments, including high profile Supreme Court and Federal Circuit cases such as Bilski, Myriad (AMP v. USPTO), Mayo v. Prometheus, and Classen.
  • 2010 BIO International Convention, Chicago: Panel moderator and speaker on the topic of IP protection for biomarker diagnostics.
  • "Impact of Recent IP Case law on Biomarkers and Personalized Medicine," Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, May 2011, exploring issues currently facing companies on the forefront of biomarker development and personalized medicine. 
  • "Written Description and Biotech Patents," Pharmaceutical Andrews Litigation Reporter, Vol. 24, Issue 7, September 2008, Thomson Reuters/West.  Review and commentary on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s revised “written description training materials”
  • Mr. Gass also has spoken at companies and universities in Europe and the United States to educate attorneys, researchers, and administrators about the nature and importance of intellectual property rights and how to procure them, and about current developments in biotechnology patent law. 

Community and Professional Involvement

Mr. Gass has served on committees for organizations such as Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) that promote strong intellectual property rights and foster the growth of the biotechnology industry.

Short Biography

©2012 Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP