Prajakta Sonalker Image

Prajakta Sonalker

Partner

Venable

Prajakta Sonalker is a partner in Venable LLP’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group. She focuses her practice on complex intellectual property litigation, including patent and trade secret disputes, with an emphasis on biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Prajakta has experience in all stages of litigation, from pre-suit investigations through trial and appeals, and proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). She counsels clients on a variety of technologies, including cell and gene therapies, vaccines, antisense oligonucleotides, RNA interference, biologics, small molecules, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Prajakta also advises clients on patent licensing and due diligence, and assists clients in multijurisdictional and parallel proceedings outside the U.S.

As a registered patent attorney with a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology, Prajakta leverages her in-depth experience in life sciences when counseling clients on their intellectual property challenges. She has over 15 years of experience practicing patent law. Prior to joining the firm, Prajakta worked at a global law firm and a boutique intellectual property firm. She also held positions as the intellectual property manager at New York University (NYU), where she supervised the preparation, prosecution, and maintenance of NYU’s extensive patent portfolio, and as an intellectual property technical specialist for a leading biotechnology company.

Recent Articles by Prajakta Sonalker

Could In re Cellect Be the End of Patent Term Adjustments? The Federal Circuit Will Soon Tell Us

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) was designed to serve an important purpose – to compensate patentees for time lost during examination due to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) delays. Most industries rely heavily on their patent portfolios to drive business strategies that ultimately impact their bottom line. The impact of patent term is especially acute in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, where companies spend billions of dollars to develop new drugs. For these companies, every day that their patent is in force matters, generating millions in additional revenue. With so much at stake, companies strive to accrue all the patent term they are entitled to under the current statutory regime, including by way of PTA.