Emerging Intellectual Property Issues For Attorneys: A 2009 Update

Thomas Mays, Ph.D., J.D.
Counsel for Intellectual Property, Bureau of Competition, Office of Policy and Coordination
Federal Trade Commission

Tom D. Mays serves as Counsel for Intellectual Property in the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, which he joined in September 2003, advising and assisting with nonpublic investigations of mergers and anticompetitive activities. Dr. Mays also assists with litigation involving the Commission dealing with intellectual property issues and comments and advises on draft legislation, policy statements and reports relating to intellectual property. He has written and spoken on issues relating to intellectual property, technology transfer and pharmaceutical product development.

Prior to joining the Commission, Dr. Mays served as V. P., General Counsel and Secretary, Light Sciences Corporation (in the greater Seattle, WA area), where his responsibilities included heading an in-house legal department providing a range of legal services to the Corporation. Other previous professional appointments, included: private legal practice as Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Morrison & Foerster; Director of the Office of Technology Development at NIH's National Cancer Institute; Primary Patent Examiner at the United States Patent & Trademark Office; and co-founder and V. P. of Research and Development, IGI Biotechnology, Inc. (Columbia, MD). Dr. Mays received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Ohio State University, a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and his J.D. from Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America.

He is a member of several professional legal associations, including the ABA, AIPLA, and formerly served as a Master of the Bench of the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court (Federal Circuit), and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and Washington; before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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George Best
Partner
Foley & Lardner LLP

George C. Best is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP. A member of the firm's IP Litigation and Appellate Practices, Dr. Best focuses on litigation and client counseling.

Dr. Best has been involved in all aspects of numerous patent, trade secret and business tort cases. He has argued at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In U.S. District Courts, Dr. Best has conducted direct and cross-examinations of witnesses in bench and jury trials. He also has argued portions of several claim construction and summary judgment hearings. Dr. Best also has extensive experience in expert discovery, document discovery, depositions and motions practice.

Dr. Best is a graduate of the University of Chicago (S.B., chemistry, with honors; S.B., biological chemistry, 1989); the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., chemistry, 1995); and the Law School of the University of Chicago (J.D., with honors, 1997), where he was the managing editor of the University of Chicago Legal Forum.

Before joining Foley & Lardner, Dr. Best was a law clerk for the Hon. Randall R. Rader of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

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Jeffrey J. Oelke
Partner
White & Case LLP

Mr. Oelke represents some of the world’s preeminent life sciences companies in patent litigation. He also counsels clients on patent and other intellectual property issues in the pharmaceutical, chemical, biotech and mechanical fields.

Mr. Oelke has represented clients in all phases of patent litigation, including appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman patent litigation. He is a registered patent attorney and has experience before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, filing and prosecuting patent applications. He has also conducted due diligence on the patent portfolios of companies.

He has been recognized as a leading individual in Patent Litigation (Life Sciences/Chemical) in the Legal 500 Vol. II (Intellectual Property, Media, Technology and Telecoms) and in Vol. III (Litigation) (2007). He has also been recognized as a “Future Star” in New York by the Benchmark Litigation Guide (2009).

In addition to lecturing frequently on various patent law issues, he has been cited in Chief Executive Magazine concerning changes to the U.S. patent system. “Surviving the Patent Shakeup,” Eric Sherman, Chief Executive, July/Aug 2008.

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Emerging Intellectual Property Issues For Attorneys: A 2009 Update
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