Denise Kettelberger concentrates her practice in intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on biotechnology patents.

Denise focuses on strategic patent portfolio management for clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and medical device industries. Her work in this area includes strategic filing and coordinated prosecution of worldwide patent applications, including prior art management, analysis of individual inventive contributions, proactive and coordinated PTO examiner interviews, appeals, and strategic reexamination and oppositions.  Denise performs intellectual property due diligence for technology and licensing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, product launches and public offerings, including freedom-to-operate, landscape, infringement and validity analysis and opinions. She also provides IP litigation support, with a particular emphasis on biotechnology patent litigation and biotechnology trade secret protection.

Denise's technical expertise in the chemical and biotechnology arts includes plant and animal genetics, particularly peptide modulators, immune responses, cell growth and metabolism, and receptor/ligand function; humanized antibody and antibody fragment design function, therapeutics and screening systems; genetic profiling, diagnostic and prognostic nucleic acid signature systems; hybrid and transgenic plants for food and consumer products; the interface of biomedical data and software platforms; organic and small molecule therapeutics such as nucleoside and nonnucleoside viral inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors and quinazoline-based cytotoxins; nanoscale enzyme-linked electrochemical analyte sensing systems; photocatalytic films for fluid purification; and self-cleaning architectural structures.

Denise is active in the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). She is an AIPLA Fellow, an appointed member of the Public Appointments Committee and the Professionalism and Ethics Committee, and Chair of the AIPLA Special Committee on FDA Issues. Denise is a frequent speaker and author on biotechnology patent law issues.

Brief Amicus Curiae

• Nuijten v. Dudas, United States Supreme Court, 2008 (for AIPLA)
• Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Metabolite Laboratories, Inc., United States Supreme Court, 2006 (for AIPLA)

Patents

• U.S. 7,247,782 (July 24, 2007), "Genetic Music"

Pro Bono

• Children's Law Center
• Minnesota District Court Appeals from Conciliatory Court  (Mediator)

Honors

• The Best Lawyers in America, Intellectual Property Law, 2007–12
• Minnesota Best Lawyers, Intellectual Property Law, 2007

Professional Associations

• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Fellow (2006–present)
• AIPLA Special Committee on FDA issues, Vice-Chair (2009–present)
• Federal Circuit Bar Association
• Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)
• Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association

Boards

• American Intellectual Property Law Foundation (AIPLEF), Appointed Trustee (2011, present)

Presentations

• Changing Substantive Patent Law:  The New First-Inventor-To-File Standard and New Provisions Defining What's Patenable
  Minnesota State Bar Association, Minneapolis (October, 2011)
• The America Invents Act:  How the New Law Impacts Your Clients and Your Practice
  Practicing Law Institute, San Francisco (September 2011)
• Responding to Examiners:  Art and Non-Art Rejections
  American Intellectual Property Law Association Practical Patent Prosecution Training for New Lawyers (August 2011, 2010, 2009)
• Best Practices for Protecting an IP Portfolio and Managing Outside Counsel
  2011 Rocky Mountain BioBooster, Denver (June 2011)
• Biologics Science 101: Understanding and Deconstructing the Complicated Scientific Principles Behind Biosimilars
  2011 ACI Workshop on Biosimilars (June 2011).
• Genetically Engineered Plants:  Past, Present, & Future
  2011 MSBA Environmental Law Institute, Minneapolis (April 2011).
• Are Genes Patentable? Potential Impact of Recent Patent Cases on Personalized Medicine
  Life Science Alley Personalized Health Framework Conference, Minneapolis (December 2010).
• Realizing the Promises of Biotechnology in Today's Food Crops
  Food, Agriculture & Biofuels 2010 National Conference, Minneapolis (May 2010)
• In Re Bilski and International Exercises in Patent Eligible Subject Matter
  MIPLA CLE Stampede, Minneapolis (May 18, 2010)
• Biosimilars
  BIONetworkEast, Winter Meeting, Miami (March 15, 2010)
• Intellectual Property and the Promise of Personalized Medicine
  Life Science Alley, Minneapolis (January 13, 2010)
• Systems Biology: An Introduction to the New Science
  Life Science Alley Expo, Minneapolis (December 2009)
• Written Description and Full Scope Enablement: Drafting a Specification to Support Broad Claims and Avoid Section 112
  Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association, Detroit and Grand Rapids, MI (November 2009)
• Inventor Issues: Practice Tips
  AIPLA Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (October 2009)
• Claiming Innovative Diagnostics Post-Bilski
  BIO Intellectual Property Counsel's Conference (March 2009)
• Biosimilars
  AIPLA Special Committee on FDA, AIPLA MidWinter Meeting
  Miami (January 29, 2009)
• Biosimilars Biotechnology Ventures: Beyond the Basics
  National Business Institute CLE, Minneapolis, MN (October 27, 2008)
• Written Description and Enablement: Where's the Claim Scope?  
  AIPLA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. (October 24, 2008)
• Maximizing Interactions With USPTO
  10th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents, ACI, Boston (September 14, 2008)
• A Practical Approach to KSR
  AIPLA Webinar (August 6, 2008)
• Patent Strategies for Uncertain Times: Stick to Basics
  AIPLA 2008 Spring Meeting, Houston, Texas (2008)
• Patent Reform at the USPTO, Where Are We Now?
  9th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents, Boston (September 2007)
• Patent Prosecution in the Wake of KSR
  Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association, Women in IP Law CLE (August 2007)
• Licensing Biotechnology Patents
  Center for Advanced Study and Research in Intellectual Property Law (CASRIP), University of Washington School of Law (July 2006, 2007, 2008)
• Responding to Prior Art Rejections
  AIPLA Practical Patent Prosecution Training for New Lawyers (August 2007, 2008)
• From Bio to Nano, Patents and the New Technologies
  National Association of College and University Attorneys 46th Annual Conference, Chicago (July 2006)
• U.S. Patent Law Reform
  PatSki-Whistler Intellectual Property Conference, Whistler, B.C. (2006)
• Responding to Non-Art Examiner Actions and Affidavit Practice
  AIPLA Practical Patent Prosecution Training for New Lawyers (2004–06)

Legal Updates

• We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto: Product Liability Biologics and Biosimilars
  For the Defense (August, 2011)
• Recent False Marking Litigation Holds Lessons For Patent Holders
  Mondaq Business Briefing (March 2010)
• Direct Purchaser's Standing to Sue for Walker Process Fraud, In re. DDAVP: Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation
  The AIPLA Antitrust News (January 2010)
• Patent Exhaustion: Implications of Quanta on Seed Licenses and Downstream Purchasers
  Bloomberg Law Reports, Vol. 3, No. 38 (September 2009)
• New Patent Rules Preliminarily Enjoined on Eve of Effective Date: What's Next?
  Intellectual Property Today (December 2007)
• Potholes in the Road Ahead: Courts Restructuring the Road to Procuring, Marketing, and Enforcing Patents
  Nebraska Lawyer (September 2007)
• Supreme Court Dictates Flexible Approach To Obviousness
  Intellectual Property Today (June 2007)
• Personalized Medicine: Paradigm Shift in the Pharma Business
  IP Value in the Life Science Industries, Intellectual Asset Management, Supplement (2006)
• Reaching the Summit—Prevailing at the Federal Circuit
  IP Value 2005, Intellectual Asset Management (2005)
• Continuous Capture and Assessment of Intellectual Property
  Inside the Minds: Winning Legal Strategies for Biotech Companies (2005)
• Bill Has Issues All Will Debate—The Patent Reform Act
  The National Law Journal (April 29, 2005)