David M. Saravitz, Ph.D., is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Patent Group. Dr. Saravitz combines his extensive knowledge of the life sciences (gained through a Ph.D. program at Duke University) and subsequent industry and university research experiences with over 10 years of experience in intellectual property law. Using this breadth of expertise, he provides his clients with both legal and practical advice on protecting and exploiting their intellectual property rights. He focuses his law practice on services relating to biotechnology/life science patents, including general patent counseling, strategic planning, opinions concerning patentability, freedom to operate and infringement, patent licensing, and patent application drafting and prosecution.
Dr. Saravitz matriculated in the evening program at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he received his J.D., magna cum laude, and served as chairperson of the Intellectual Property Law Society. His background also includes a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from Duke University, an M.S. from North Carolina State University and a B.S., with distinction, from The Pennsylvania State University. While attending Duke, he was the recipient of both a National Institutes of Health Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant and a Plant Molecular Biology Fellowship from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
- Patent counsel to the world's leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics to farmers worldwide, with a focus on obtaining domestic and foreign patent protection, advising on strategic planning and patent portfolio development, and providing opinions concerning patentability, invalidity, and freedom to operate.
- Patent counsel to a U.S.-based charitable organization that supports programs of research and development on durable plant disease resistance including a research program that discovered the DNA recognition code for a new class of DNA-binding proteins, which enables the production of DNA-binding proteins that bind to specific target sequences and can be used for targeted gene activation, or repression, and targeted engineering of genomes to add, remove, or alter genes.
- Patent counsel for several non-U.S. law firms in connection with the prosecution of patent applications in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- Served as patent counsel for one of the world's largest clinical laboratories, providing opinions concerning freedom to operate, invalidity and non-infringement, conducting due diligence investigations for acquisitions of companies and intellectual property and assisting in drafting and negotiating license agreements involving intellectual property.
Past Events
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April 16-18, 2012
Seminar
- North Carolina State Bar
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Triangle Intellectual Property Law Association (TIPLA) - member of the Board of Directors; elected to various officer positions, including President from 2009-2010
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
- North Carolina Biosciences Organization