Alexander H. Spiegler
Alex Spiegler is a creative and practical intellectual property attorney whose practice focuses on the agricultural, chemical, and life sciences industries. Alex co-leads ArentFox Schiff’s Trade Secrets group.
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Alex has extensive experience with the US Patent & Trademark Office, specializing in patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings, in a wide variety of technologies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural technology. Alex also advises companies on protecting and defending their trade secrets. Alex has been recognized by Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in Patent Prosecution.
Client Work
Recent matters include:
- Prepare and prosecute patent applications for start-up, mid-sized, and large US and international companies in the biotechnology, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and chemical fields, including inventions related to genetically modified plants, active pharmaceutical ingredients, gene editing, pharmaceutical and agricultural formulations, immunotherapy, plant varieties, microorganisms, diagnostics, methods of treatment, and chemical processes.
- Served as IP opinion counsel to pharmaceutical companies for initial public and secondary stock offerings.
- Conduct due diligence, freedom-to-operate, validity and patentability analyses in the chemical and life sciences industries, and prepare formal legal opinions reflecting conclusions of such analyses.
- Represented agricultural company in inter partes review involving herbicidal compositions. Successfully obtained Final Written Decision for Patent Owner confirming all challenged claims are patentable.
- Represented lawn care company in litigation and patent office proceedings. Successfully obtained summary judgment on competitor’s trade secret claim. Obtained favorable Markman ruling against competitors’ patents, leading to dismissal of the patent infringement suit. Successfully provoked inter partes reviews and reexaminations against competitors’ patents, and obtained final decisions that competitors’ patents are unpatentable.
- Represented inventor against reexamination of patent directed to methods for treating achondroplasia. Reexamination Certificate confirmed patentability of all original claims.
- Represented agricultural biotechnology company against reexamination of patent directed to methods of treating genetically modified plant with an herbicide. Reexamination Certificate issued with claims covering commercially important subject matter.
- Represented life sciences company with patents covering DNA sequencing technology. Obtained favorable Markman ruling.
- Represented life sciences company in patent office proceedings (interferences and reexaminations) relating to nucleic acid technology (e.g., sequencing, amplification).
- Represented pharmaceutical company in a Hatch-Waxman litigation brought against it by owner of patents covering leading attention hyperactivity disorder drug.
Previous Work
Alex was an associate at an international law firm prior to joining ArentFox Schiff. From 2000 to 2004, he was a Biotechnology Patent Examiner at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Publications, Presentations & Recognitions
Recent publications:
- Co-author, “Three Ways the New USPTO Guidance for Patent Eligibility Can Benefit Patent Applicants,” Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, 2019
- Co-author, Chemical and Life Sciences Year in Review, 2017
- Co-author, Chemical and Life Sciences Year in Review, 2016 Accordion Toggle
Recent presentations:
- “The Importance of Intellectual Property for Growing Your Life Science Company,” BioMed Alliance Conference, Montpellier, France (2019)
- “US Case Law Update,” CIPA Annual Life Sciences Conference, Brighton, England (2019)
- “Developing a Coherent Patent and Trade Secret Strategy – Easier Said Than Done!” Water & Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association’s Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ (2019) Accordion Toggle
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Industries
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Education
Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, JD, 2006Rutgers University, BS, Biotechnology, 2000