Julie M. Watson, Special Counsel

• Developing deal strategies and leading negotiations for both in-licensing and out-licensing transactions for biopharma and university clients.
• Managing high-profile university out-licensing portfolios, including invention evaluations and strategy development, identifying potential targets and negotiating intellectual property agreements.
• Advising, drafting IP agreements, and performing due diligence for corporate acquisitions based on technology assets developed under the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through its Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases Program.
• Counseling on intellectual property policies, related revenue-sharing agreements, consulting agreements, invention disclosure forms and compliance with non-profit grant funding.
• Structuring and leading the transaction team for contracts and extensive portfolio of subcontracts under Department of Defense funded programs.
• Developing proforma confidentiality, material transfer and research agreements for university clients; developing a portfolio of service and IP contracts for clinical translation program.

Prior to joining Marshall Gerstein as special counsel, Julie was Director of Intellectual Property and Legal Counsel at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine; the Director of Intellectual Property Services at the American Medical Association; and a client of Marshall Gerstein while Vice President of the Advanced Research & Technology Institute, the technology transfer arm of Indiana University.

Julie received her law degree from Wake Forest University Law School and holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and is admitted to practice law in Illinois, North Carolina, and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP)*, a credential that recognizes licensing professionals who are committed to professional development and the attainment of the skills and knowledge to perform at the highest level of quality, and currently chairs the CLP Board of Governors. Julie is a long time member of licensing professional associations LES and AUTM and frequent speaker at LES and AUTM meetings, as well as a lecturer for a number of academic programs including at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

*The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and the CLP certification is not a requirement to practice law in Illinois.

• Wake Forest University School of Law (J.D., cum laude)
• Johns Hopkins University (M.A., NIH Training Grant, Johns Hopkins Fellowship)
  • Biopsychology
• Coe College (B.A., magna cum laude)
  • Psychology, Biology

• Illinois
• North Carolina

Julie is an active participant in professional licensing organizations, including AUTM and the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and frequent author and presenter at national meetings on intellectual property transactions.

Recent examples include:

• "Current Trends in Intellectual Property and Patent Law," Association of Corporate Counsel, RTP Chapter, Research Triangle Park, NC, October 2, 2024. 
• "Patent & Licensing Strategy," Research Triangle Area Chapter - Association of Corporate Counsel Lunch & Learn, Raleigh, NC, October 16, 2019.
• "Functional Framework of a License," AUTM 2019 Essentials Course, Oak Brook, IL, September 9, 2019.
• "State University Patents Are Not Immune from Inter Partes Review," Marshall Gerstein Alert, June 17, 2019.
• “Negotiation of IP Licenses,” LES University North, Chicago, IL, September 24, 2018.

Click here to see additional Publications and Presentations.