Sandip H. Patel, Partner

Biography

Sandip Patel advises companies in the chemical and life sciences industries on high-stakes patent matters, from securing and managing valuable patent portfolios to resolving complex disputes globally. His practice encompasses all aspects of patent law, including patent prosecution, portfolio strategy, opinion counseling, Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, federal court litigation, and foreign opposition and litigation matters.

With experience spanning the full spectrum of patent practice, Sandip brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective to the challenges facing innovative companies. He regularly helps clients navigate matters in the United States and key international jurisdictions, including Australia, China, Europe, and Japan. Clients rely on his deep experience to develop practical solutions to their most significant intellectual property challenges.

After graduating from Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, Sandip joined Marshall Gerstein, where he was trained by a group of the firm’s leading patent lawyers, working at the cutting edge of the law, biotech, and chemical sciences. As their apprentice, he learned to write and prosecute patent applications in ways that strategically strengthened patent portfolios for multinational corporations, including BASF, British Petroleum, International Paper, Pfizer, Raytheon, and SK Hynix. Sandip developed a reputation for helping inventors articulate and protect their most important innovations. He worked closely with them to ensure their patents not only secure meaningful protection but also withstand challenges in adversarial proceedings and rigorous foreign opposition systems. Today, he applies those same principles in mentoring the next generation of Marshall Gerstein attorneys, helping them develop the skills necessary to counsel innovators and build strong, defensible patent portfolios.

Early in his career, Sandip built a foundation in both patent litigation and Patent Office contested proceedings. He worked on federal court matters for companies such as Amgen and Procter & Gamble, gaining experience in discovery, trial preparation, and dispute resolution strategy. At the same time, he developed extensive experience in Patent Office interferences, helping clients protect innovations ranging from early cancer treatments and genetically modified plants to technologies found in everyday consumer products.

Over the past two decades, Sandip has continued to lead complex contested proceedings on behalf of ACCO Brands, Gillette, Monsanto, Newell Rubbermaid, and Pharmacia & Upjohn, as well as numerous emerging companies and universities.

Today, Sandip provides strategic counseling in all areas of patent law, with a particular focus on proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), including America Invents Act (AIA) trials whose procedural framework evolved from earlier interference practice. He has spent much of the past decade helping clients, including a Nobel Laureate, develop and protect worldwide patent portfolios covering foundational CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technologies. This includes counseling in multiple foreign oppositions and U.S. patent interferences.

In these matters and many others, Sandip has worked closely with leading IP practitioners in the United States and abroad to develop coordinated strategies for protecting and enforcing valuable innovations across the globe.

Sandip has a formal education in chemical engineering from Michigan State University (Go Green!), but his work has spanned the entire spectrum of engineering, chemical, and life sciences. Through that experience, he has proven adept at quickly grasping diverse technologies and devising efficient intellectual property strategies that clients have used to achieve their business objectives.

He is thankful for the many clients who have sought his advice for nearly 30 years, and the clients and peers who have recognized his work through honors such as:

  • "Notable Practitioner" in the 2025 Chambers USA Guide
  • IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2025
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Global IP Lawyers (since 2024)
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (since 2022)
  • “Leading Lawyer” per Law Bulletin Media’s Leading Lawyers division (since 2019)
  • Best Lawyers in America® (since 2016)
  • “IP Star” in the Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars Survey (since 2016)
  • “Life Sciences Star” per LMG Life Sciences (since 2016)
  • Illinois Super Lawyers® (since 2013)

In addition to his client work, Sandip has been deeply involved in the leadership of Marshall Gerstein, having chaired the firm’s attorney recruiting committee for 10 years, helping attract and develop generations of attorneys, and later served for six years on the executive committee, where he contributed to the firm’s strategic planning and governance.

Representative Cases

Below are some of the cases Sandip has handled with colleagues at the firm and, occasionally, with co-counsel at other firms. The represented party is denoted with an asterisk.

  • Represented CureVac in obtaining a $740 million settlement from defendants BioNTech and Pfizer on the eve of trial in a Virginia federal court, concerning the defendants’ manufacture and sales of its Covid-19 vaccine (Comirnaty®). CureVac alleged infringement of several patents covering mRNA manufacturing and vaccine technologies. The case was CureVac SE* v. BioNTech, Inc. & Pfizer Inc.

  • Represented Nobel Laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier and her licensees in multiple patent interference proceedings involving dozens of patents and patent applications concerning foundational CRISPR-Cas9 technologies. Through some of these interferences, Professor Charpentier and the co-owners of her applications obtained more than 60 U.S. patents regarding these technologies. Some of the interferences remain pending with the potential to obtain more patents. The various cases include The Regents of the University of California, University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier* v. The Broad Institute, Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and President and Fellows of Harvard College.

  • With Japanese patent counsel, successfully defended the validity of Prof. Charpentier’s (and her co-owners’) Japanese patent on foundational CRISPR-Cas9 technologies from attack in an Invalidation Trial at the Japanese Patent Office and the challenger’s subsequent appeal to the Japanese IP High Court. The cases were styled as ToolGen, Inc. v. The Regents of the University of California, University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier.*

  • With European patent counsel, successfully attacked the validity of claims the European Patent Office improvidently issued to several entities in several European patents regarding foundational CRISPR-Cas9 technologies. Each case was first heard by the Opposition Division and later by the Technical Board of Appeals at the European Patent Office (EPO). Among the patents the EPO revoked are those owned by The Broad Institute, Sigma-Aldrich Co., and ToolGen, Inc.

  • Represented Amgen in the first biosimilar patent litigation under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act. The case was in a Delaware federal court and involved dozens of patents related to AbbVie’s Humira® drug product, and it concluded in a favorable settlement that included allowing Amgen's biosimilar product (Amjevita®) to enter the market long before most of AbbVie’s asserted patents expired. The case was AbbVie Inc. v. Amgen Inc.*

  • Successfully persuaded the Patent Office to not institute multiple inter partes reviews of P&G patents concerning commercial-scale manufacturing of co-form fibrous materials used in household (Swiffer® brand) and baby care (Pampers® brand) products. The cases were Fitessa Simpsonville, Inc. v. The Procter & Gamble Company.*

  • In several inter partes review and reexamination proceedings, we successfully represented ACCO Brands in seeking cancellation of patents owned and asserted by a non-practicing entity regarding mechanisms that lock computers to a table/desk. We later successfully defended those Patent Office decisions on appeal. We also succeeded in defeating the patent owner’s infringement claims in the parallel litigations it initiated in federal courts in Chicago and Brooklyn. The various cases were styled as Think Products Inc. v. ACCO Brands Corporation.*

  • Represented Canfield Scientific, a company specializing in medical devices, in inter partes reviews seeking to invalidate its competitor’s patents. The Patent and Trademark Office decided not to cancel the patent, but we succeeded in persuading the Federal Circuit to reverse that decision. The cases were styled as Canfield Scientific, Inc.* v. Melanoscan, LLC.

See Sandip's additional Representative Matters.

Publications and Presentations

See Sandip's additional thought leadership.

Education

  • Indiana University Maurer School of Law (Bloomington) (J.D.)
    • Served as Notes and Comments Editor of the Indiana Law Journal
  • Michigan State University (B.S., with honors)
    • Chemical Engineering

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Community and Professional Involvement

  • American Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
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