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Emer Simic
Partner
Neal Gerber Eisenberg
Emer Simic is a partner in the Intellectual Property practice group at Neal Gerber Eisenberg. A registered patent attorney, she is an accomplished litigator with substantial experience successfully representing both patent challengers and patent owners in Hatch-Waxman and patent infringement matters before the U.S. District Court and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
With a science degree from Cambridge University, Emer possesses a keen understanding of the pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech fields. She focuses her practice on client counseling and patent litigation in the life sciences space, with a particular focus on pharmaceuticals.
Emer prides herself on building strong relationships with clients to assist them in decision making to support their business objectives. Clients rely on Emer’s ability to apply her knowledge of science and the law to develop and defend their intellectual property throughout its life cycle. She collaborates with research and development teams to maximize the value of new product and line extension efforts and deftly navigate freedom to operate issues.
Emer is always prepared to vigorously advocate for her clients at trial should the need arise. She has extensive experience managing complex pharmaceutical patent disputes before the U.S. District Court and on appeal to the Federal Circuit, including management of parallel inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.
Originally from Ireland, Emer is a qualified barrister. Prior to joining the firm, Emer was a partner at Green, Griffith & Borg-Breen LLP. She is highly lauded for her legal acumen. In 2020, she was chosen as one of the top “40 Under 40 Illinois Attorneys to Watch” by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, honored as one of “Chicago’s Notable Women Lawyers” by Crain’s Custom Media and named an “IP Star” by Managing IP. Emer is a member of the firm’s Women’s Network.
Recent Articles by Emer Simic
The appointment of USPTO Director Kathi Vidal in April 2022 and her introduction of interim guidance in June 2022 has spurred changes at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that may result in an increase in instituted inter partes reviews (IPRs) due to a dramatic decline in discretionary denials. Under the reign of former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu, the number of discretionary denials of IPR petitions had steadily increased over the last five years, in part due to the application of the PTAB’s 2020 precedential decision in Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc.
On March 30, 2021, President Biden tapped Tiffany Cunningham to be the first African American to sit on the Federal Circuit. After a straightforward and speedy hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee later advanced Cunningham’s nomination with a 16-6 vote. With her confirmation now imminent, Cunningham is poised to become the first African American, and the first African American woman, to join the Federal Circuit bench. Now that she has reached this historic milestone, this article reflects on the significance and impact of Cunningham’s nomination.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing sector of the life sciences industry, with broad-ranging applications in drug discovery, biotechnology, medical diagnosis, clinical trials, precision and personalized medicine and patient monitoring. The recent uptick of AI use in this industry is likely due to the increasing availability of “big data.” AI technologies including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing can be harnessed to process vast data sets to identify new drug candidates, optimize drug dosing, match patients with drug trials and diagnose diseases. Recognizing this potential, global biopharma companies have invested heavily in AI technology—the AI in life sciences market was valued at USD 1092.44 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 3445.60 million by 2025.
