Kelly A. Plummer, Ph.D. focuses her practice on pharmaceutical and biotechnology patent matters with an emphasis on patent prosecution and prelitigation counseling. Kelly advises clients regarding patentability, infringement, patent validity, and freedom-to-operate. She assists clients with intellectual property due diligence related to acquisitions and venture capital financing. Kelly also has experience with biosimilar litigation and post-grant proceedings at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Kelly represents clients in patent prosecution matters before the US Patent and Trademark Office and internationally under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, as well as in managing their worldwide patent portfolios. Her practice encompasses a broad range of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical subject matter, including antibody therapeutics, drug delivery, formulations, manufacturing and purification of biologics, small molecule pharmaceuticals, and therapeutic methods. Kelly leverages her experience as a researcher in protein therapeutics at an international biotechnology company to provide a deep technical understanding to her client’s biologics and biotechnology-related patent portfolios.
Kelly received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in the department of chemistry and chemical biology. Her doctoral work focused on developing systems for modulating the affinity and specificity of small molecules for therapeutic RNA targets.
Before joining Morgan Lewis, Kelly was an associate at another international law firm and a Chicago-based intellectual property boutique. Before that, she worked as a scientific researcher at a large biotechnology company.
Recommended, Intellectual property: Copyright, The Legal 500 US (2024)
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Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, Patent Law, Chicago (2022–2025)
Rising Star, Illinois Super Lawyers (2017–2020)