Pharmaceuticals

Schiff Hardin has decades of experience representing major pharmaceutical companies, the businesses that supply them, and the businesses that distribute their products in a wide variety of legal matters. Through these representations we have gained a comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical industry.

Schiff Hardin attorneys provide thoughtful, diligent representation in the pharmaceuticals industry. We concentrate our work in this industry in areas such as:

Technology transfer
Patent licensing
Patent litigation
Software licensing
Strategic alliances

In addition, we draw upon the skills of attorneys in various practice areas to represent clients in matters such as:

Benefit plans
Venture capital financing
General corporate litigation
Trademarks
Labor and employment
Product distribution

We are trial counsel to a number of pharmaceutical companies involved in significant patent litigation, including a European pharmaceutical company in U.S. litigation involving disputed claims to ownership of intellectual property. Our work in the pharmaceuticals sector also includes performing trademark searches, counseling on the selection of trademarks, filing of U.S. and foreign trademark applications and representing clients in trademark litigation.

We understand the importance of the creation and protection of intellectual property to pharmaceutical companies and have assisted numerous clients in drafting and implementing employee and consulting agreements covering the ownership of inventions and the non-disclosure of confidential information. We also have experience drafting agreements under which confidential information is disclosed to another party for purposes of evaluating a prospective business transaction.

Our attorneys have experience in both patent prosecution and litigation support for biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry clients. Many of the attorneys in our pharmaceutical group have backgrounds in chemical engineering, chemistry, biochemistry and related disciplines.

The services we provide clients in this industry include:

Patent litigation
Labor and employment compliance and litigation
Employee benefits and executive compensation plans and compliance
Environmental compliance, permitting and litigation
Building financings
White collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and corporate compliance
Shareholder derivative actions
Medical device litigation
General commercial litigation
Mergers and acquisitions