Overview
Patent Management
Start-ups and Fortune 500 companies alike turn to Mercedes to manage their patents and patent portfolios. She advises on developing patent strategies, managing the intellectual property rights, and making associated investments and acquisitions. She provides clients with strategies for global filings. Mercedes also conducts due diligence and handles patent interferences, reexaminations and inter partes matters.
Mercedes often is consulted on drug pricing and Bayh-Dole march-in issues, and she is an authority on patent prosecution ethics and bioethics issues.
Protecting Innovation
Mercedes is skilled at helping clients protect incremental advances on existing technology related to:
- Antibodies and immuno-oncology (IO)
- Combination drug therapies
- Diagnostics
- Viral vectors
- Genomics
- Nucleic acids, CRISPR
- Vaccines
- Stem cell research
- Gene therapy
- Drug screening and identification
- Food and beverages
- Extracts and nutraceuticals
- Animal health products
- Enzymes for use in biofuels, detergents, baking, cosmetics and animal health products
Mercedes founded and initiated the development of the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s (IPO’s) Women in IP Committee Gender Diversity in Innovation Toolkit, a four-step blueprint for companies to assess and cultivate gender parity in innovation.
Personal Interests
In addition to showing dogs, Mercedes enjoys fly fishing, skeet shooting, quilting, skiing, hiking, writing, painting, Southwestern Indian pottery and blogging on women in law.
Services & Industries
Credentials
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
Texas
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Education
University of Houston Law Center
J.D. (1996)
Bryn Mawr College
B.A. in Chemistry (1988)
The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. in Virology (1994)
Insights & Events
Latest
Insights
Other Perspectives
- Co-author, Patent Ethics: Prosecution (2016-17, 4th edition) with David Hricik; LexisNexis IP Law & Strategy Series
Leadership & Community
Professional Associations
- Intellectual Property Owners Organization, Vice Chair Women’s Committee, 2016-19
- Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation, Board Member, May 2019 to December 2020
- Association of University Technology Managers Women’s Inventor Committee, 2018-present
- American Intellectual Property Law Association, AIPLA, Committee on the Profession, Chair, 2019-21, Board of Directors, 2009-11; Secretary, 2011-12; Biotechnology Committee, Past Vice Chair, 2007-09; Women in IP Law Committee, Past Chair, 2005-07
- Federal Circuit Bar Association, Co-Chair, Diversity, 2015-18
Honors
- Chambers USA — District of Columbia, Intellectual Property: Patent Prosecution, 2021
- Managing Intellectual Property — "IP Star"
- Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) — Global Leader, 2022
- Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) 300 Leading IP Strategists
- Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Practitioners