Genetics & Bioscience

Marcelo Pomeranz Related Seminars and Products

Associate

Cooley LLP

Dr. Marcelo Pomeranz’s practice focuses on the development and execution of world-wide intellectual property strategies for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He has extensive experience in securing, defending, and challenging patents to provide clients with the necessary protection and freedom to operate to monetize their inventions. He has extensive technical experience in plant biology, RNA silencing, CRISPR gene editing, strain engineering, plant-derived medicines, molecular biology and systems biology. Marcelo is also an expert in cannabinoid biology and chemistry, representing clients in all areas of cannabinoid research, including cannabis and hemp breeding and genetics, cannabinoid and terpene biosynthesis, synthetic cannabinoid chemistry, cannabinoid and terpene extraction and detection, and cannabinoid formulation and pharmacology. He successfully secured the first patents to THC-containing plants in the US, Canada, and Europe. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Marcelo's doctoral research focused on elucidating mechanisms for AU-rich mediated RNA degradation and the formation of RNA processing bodies and stress granules in plants. After his graduate work, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University Center for Applied Sciences and the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center. His postdoctoral work focused on the discovery of gene regulatory networks and developmental expression programs using next-generation sequencing and mathematical modeling. Marcelo was awarded the American Bar Association's Award for Excellence in intellectual property law. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications appearing in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, The Plant Journal, Plant Physiology and Plant Signal Behavior.

Travis Bliss Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Panitch, Schwarze, Belisario, & Nadel

Dr. Travis Bliss counsels a variety of clients ranging from individual inventors to small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in nearly all aspects of intellectual property law. He considers multiple facets of intellectual property law when counseling a client on an IP issue, thereby providing his clients with a comprehensive view of the IP landscape. Travis prepares and prosecutes patent applications; litigates patent, trademark, and other IP disputes in federal and state courts; represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board; counsels clients in a variety of IP issues, including due diligence, FTO, infringement, and patentability; and prepares and negotiates IP licenses. Travis’s flexibility and adaptability to consider and work in the newest legal proceedings and technologies give value to clients who are looking for optimal solutions specific to their business needs.

Travis served as chair of the IP Biotechnology & Life Sciences Practice Group at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. before joining Panitch Schwarze. From a technology standpoint, Travis's practice falls largely within the life sciences field, including pharmaceuticals and biologics, diagnostic testing methods/apparatus, and treatment methods.  Travis’s practice also includes a large focus on novel plant varieties in the agriculture, horticulture, and cannabis/hemp industries, including procuring patent and trademark protection for novel varieties and monetizing those IP rights through licensing. His efforts in IP counseling in procurement in the cannabis and hemp space have allowed Travis to be ranked as a “Band 1” attorney in the area of Cannabis Law by Chambers USA.

Whether counseling clients on the most advantageous intellectual property avenues to pursue for a particular technology or counseling clients on the most practical ways to avoid or overcome the intellectual property of competitors, Travis strives to assist his clients from the planning stages all the way through execution to make sure his clients are getting the most out of their intellectual property assets.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Travis earned both a bachelor of science degree and a Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Delaware, with course work and research that focused on animal and plant genetics, molecular immunology, biotechnology, and bioinformatics. His Ph.D. dissertation addressed gene expression in avian macrophage cells using EST libraries and DNA microarrays, and he also participated in research projects that involved diagnostic testing, pathogen identification, vaccine analysis, and cell culture. These undergraduate and graduate programs gave Travis technical experience in numerous areas of the chemical and biological arts.

In addition to his regular legal work, Travis volunteers as a pro bono child attorney for the Delaware Office of the Child Advocate.  He also serves on his neighborhood civic association and volunteers as a coach for softball, wrestling, and basketball for a local youth club. In his spare time, he is an avid gardener and he also enjoys making hard cider from locally sourced sweet apple cider.

Pauline Pelletier Related Seminars and Products

Director

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Pauline M. Pelletier is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Trial & Appellate Practice Group. She is experienced in patent litigation before the federal courts and the International Trade Commission, post-grant trial and reexamination practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Pauline’s clients include leading companies in the life sciences, electronics, and automotive industries. She also counsels clients in emerging and regulated industries, including cannabinoid therapeutics.

Mark Lewis Related Seminars and Products

President

Napro Research

Dr. Mark Lewis founded NaPro Research in 2011, a company dedicated to creating analytical solutions and products across four sectors: biotechnology, production, laboratory services and consumer education. His latest publication, Pharmacological Foundations of Cannabis Chemovars, co-authored with Dr. Ethan Russo, explores potential applications of cannabis hybrid plants – chemovars – that vary only in cannabinoid ratio. The plants have been used to investigate the different effects associated with varying ratios of cannabinoids and to study CBD as a buffer to protect against the harm caused by chronic THC use without the loss of sensory appeal. Additionally, his decades of research focused on plant breeding and crop production optimization paid off at the 2017 Emerald Cup when Molecular Farms,  a client of Napro Research, won the overall flower category and the top CBD flower at the competition.

Dr. Lewis earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Purdue University. He is a member of International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) and American Chemical Society (ACS).