Joseph M. Reisman is a partner in our San Diego office.
Dr. Reisman’s practice involves patent prosecution and strategic counseling, chiefly for clients in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotechnology, industries, as well as patent litigation and appellate work involving various technologies. His practice allows him to utilize the technical training he received while earning a Ph.D. in Chemistry. His litigation experience is varied, and includes numerous complex patent infringement actions brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act, in which represented both defendants and plaintiffs. He has also authored numerous appeal briefs, and conducted oral argument on appeal at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Dr. Reisman often represents manufacturers of generic and follow-on products, and has been a team leader in successfully earning early market entry of generic equivalents of many well-known products, including Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Valcyte (valganciclovir). Dr. Reisman regularly counsels his clients as they prepare their Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) and provides strategic advice with an eye toward successful patent litigation strategies, including settlement, always keyed to successful business outcomes.
Dr. Reisman also has extensive experience obtaining and enforcing complex patent portfolios, trade secret rights and other forms of intellectual property for his clients. He has extensive experience developing patent portfolios relating to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, specialty chemical, and water treatment technologies.
During the course of his graduate studies in biochemistry, Dr. Reisman was awarded “La Bourse Chateaubriand” by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Embassy to the United States. Under that six-month grant, he continued his doctoral research (at the University of California, San Diego) on the structure and function of certain DNA-binding proteins, while working at the Université de Montpellier in Montpellier, France. After graduating from law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Reisman served for two years as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie, Circuit Judge, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In every year since 2012, Dr. Reisman has been included on the list of The Best Lawyers in America, and has been selected as a “Life Science Star” by LMG Life Sciences. These recognitions range from the field of Patent Prosecution, Patent Advisory, Strategy, and Management, Patent Litigation and, more specifically, Hatch-Waxman Litigation. Since 2000, he has regularly served as an Adjunct Professor of Patent Law at the University of San Diego, School of Law. He is also an active member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association. He has been, for several years, a member of the Association’s Board of Directors, and he currently serves as the Association’s President Elect.
Dr. Reisman joined the firm in 1998, and became a partner in 2002.
Clerk Experience
Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie, Circuit Judge
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1996-1998
University of California – Berkeley – School of Law (CAL), J.D., Executive Editor – The Berkeley Technology Law Journal
University of California – San Diego, Ph.D., Chemistry, Dissertation Title: “Analyses of Two Bacteriophage-encoded DNA-binding Proteins in Solution”
University of California – San Diego, M.S., Chemistry
Yale University, B.S., Chemistry
State Bar of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. District Court – Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court – Northern District of California
U.S. District Court – Southern District of California
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Biotech
Antibodies & Immunology
Biological Manufacturing of Chemicals
Biologics
Diagnostic Tools
Peptides
Personalized Medicine
Research Tools & Reagents
Synthetic Biology & Nanotechnology
Therapeutics
Chemical, Industrial & Materials
Analytical Chemistry
Biochemistry
Chemical Engineering
Combinatorial Chemistry
Concrete & Aggregates
Cosmetics & Personal Care Products
Food Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Polymers
Energy
Biodegradable Materials
Bioenergy & Biofuels
Biomass
Clean Technology
Drinking Water Treatment
Green Chemistry
Waste Mitigation & Treatment
Medical Devices & Procedures
Biocompatible Polymers & Coatings
Catheters & Probes
Diagnostics
Drug Eluting & Drug Delivery Devices
Medical Informatics & Software Systems
Ophthalmology & Eye Care
Vital Signs, Physiologic, & Hemodynamic Monitoring
Pharmaceuticals
Antibodies & Immunology
Biological Manufacturing of Chemicals
Biologics
Biosimilars & Hatch-Waxman Litigation
Diagnostic Tools
Peptides
Personalized Medicine
Research Tools & Reagents
Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
Therapeutics
Appellate Litigation
Design Patents
Due Diligence
Global Portfolio Management
HatchWaxman Litigation
Infringement Risk
Inter Partes Review (IPR)
IP Strategy
IP Transactions and Agreements
Licensing
Litigation
Opinions Counseling
Patent Litigation
Patent Strategy & Prosecution
Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) Litigation
Patentability
Post-Grant
PostGrant Review (PGR)
PTAB Overview
Tech Transactions
U.S. Patent Prosecution
Dr. Reisman has received multiple awards and has been honored in both national and international forums for his legal accomplishments:
- Selected to The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Intellectual Property Litigation and Patent Law (2010 – 2024) and Patent Litigation (2023 – 2024)
- Recognized by The Legal 500 “United States” for Patent Litigation (2021 – 2023)
- Named one of the “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” in the Patent 1000 guide by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine for Prosecution. (2015-2023). In the 2018 guide, Dr. Reisman was described as being “extremely astute in counselling his pharmaceutical clients and narrowing their risk profile” and recognized for “leveraging his trial experience to prosecute patents that can withstand the rigours of litigation”. In the 2023 guide, he was described as someone who “has a vast understanding of contentious/non-contentious IP issues, which has given him a bird’s-eye view of multifaceted issues.”
- Named Top Patent Challenger Attorney 2020 by Docket Navigator
- Named a “Life Science Star” in Legal Media Group (LMG) “Life Sciences”. He has been recognized in all areas of the survey which include patent prosecution, patent advisory, strategy and management, general patent litigation/protection, and Hatch-Waxman litigation (2012 – 2018 and 2022)
- Named by Legal Media Group (LMG) as one of the ” World’s Leading Patent Law Experts” (2015)
American Intellectual Property Law Association
Federal Circuit Bar Association – Co-Chair of Amicus Committee (2009-2010)
American Bar Association
American Chemical Society – Division of Chemistry and the Law
