Erin Dunston

Erin Dunston is a partner at Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP, where she is Co-Chair of the firm’s Post-Grant Group.  Erin focuses her practice on patent procurement, opinions, enforcement (both in district courts and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board), and portfolio strategy. With clients ranging from individual inventors to large, multi-national companies, Erin tailors her approach to each client’s goals. Erin’s matters are primarily in the life science space (small molecules, large molecules, and medical devices), but she has handled projects on subject matter ranging from precipitated silica to vaccines to radiotherapy devices.

In terms of patent prosecution, counseling, and strategy, Erin learns her clients’ businesses and how a given project will advance the client’s business objectives, from both offensive and defensive standpoints. Erin also works closely with clients to satisfy budget constraints and assist in leveraging and monetizing patent assets. 

To date, Erin has also handled more than 20 district court litigations and more than 25 inter partes reviews (IPRs) and more than 40 interferences before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (P.T.A.B). Assisting both patent owners and putative infringers/petitioners, this experience ranges from pre-filing analyses all the way through appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

Erin has been recognized by several leading IP organizations and awards programs. Erin has been selected for inclusion among The Best Lawyers in America each year since 2018. She also has been recognized in IAM’s Patent 1000 list – a best-in-class listing of patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation practitioners. For several years, including for 2021, she has been named an IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property and a Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer by Chambers USA. Erin also received Lawyer Monthly’s Women in Law 2016 Award for her contributions to the practice of biotechnology law.