Suzannah K. Sundby

Suzannah K. Sundby is a partner in the Intellectual Property Section of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Ms. Sundby has extensive experience in patent preparation and prosecution of inventions across diverse technologies including biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmaceuticals, microfluidics, diagnostics, medical devices and nanotechnology. Her legal practice involves patent preparation and prosecution, licensing, opinion work, client counseling and litigation.

Ms. Sundby has experience assisting start-up biotech companies with the preparation and prosecution of their foundation patents, nondisclosure agreements and related IP issues. She also taught advanced biotech patent preparation and prosecution as an adjunct professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center. Before entering the legal field, Ms. Sundby helped map the Drosophila genome as a member of the University of California’s Berkeley Drosophila Genome Group.

Ms. Sundby holds a B.S. in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and, in addition to earning a Juris Doctor, she earned a Master of Intellectual Property.

Articles

“Do You Really Want to (Attempt to) Patent That”, American Conference Institute, 9th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents: Analysis, Insights and Strategies for New Challenges in Biotech Patent Practice, September 2007.

“Patent Trolls: Is There One Waiting for You”, Trust the Leaders, Issue 16, 2006.

“Technology Licensing - From First Steps to Executing a Plan”, Internat’l BioPharm, Volume 17(5), May 2005.

“IP Law Considerations: Aspects for Small and Medium Enterprises” Asia Pacific Tech Monitor, July-August 2004.

Speaking Engagements

“Patenting Biotech Sequences: What’s Happened and What To Do Now”, Webinar for the Maryland State Bar Association, November 18, 2009.

“Protecting Proprietary Information — Deciding Whether to File for a Patent”, American Conference Institute, 9th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents: Analysis, Insights and Strategies for New Challenges in Biotech Patent Practice, Boston, MA, September 2007.

“Biotech and Nanotech Patent Application and Prosecution Strategies”, Government Intellectual Property Law Association (GIPLA), Washington, DC, January 2007.

“How to Lose Your Patent Rights”, Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI), Frederick, MD, October 2006.

“How to Work with Difficult…To Turn an Idea into a Patentable Invention”, American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 2006.

“Biotech Patents”, Indo-US Symposium on Infectious Disease Research and Development, Bangalore, India, 2004.