Kristina L. Swanson

Associate

Kristina L. Swanson

Overview

Kristina helps clients secure, protect, enforce, and defend intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, and trademarks.  Kristina primarily focuses her practice on prosecution, litigation, and due diligence matters in the biotechnology and chemistry arts.

Recent domestic and international prosecution matters have involved technologies such as cancer vaccines, treatments involving delivery of personalized medicine, nucleic acid sequences, proteins, enzymes, biomarkers, chemical and biological assays, monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs), cell lines, DNA cloning and amplification techniques, genetic vectors, medical treatments, pharmaceutical compositions, biofuels, nucleic acid therapeutics, nucleic acid extraction devices, methods for producing biopharmaceuticals, small molecule synthesis, novel compounds, novel organisms, and pharmaceutical and agricultural product formulations.  While fascinated by the legal and scientific aspects of her role, Kristina also enjoys having the opportunity to understand the business side of her clients’ companies so she can effectively advise on portfolio management strategies.

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Recent litigation matters have involved biosimilars involving the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, and pharmaceutical compounds involving the Hatch-Waxman provisions of the Patent Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Before practicing law, Kristina was involved with researching virus-induced carcinomas.  During law school, Kristina held a judicial externship with the Honorable John W. Darrah of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and was an intern at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the Office of Patent Legal Administration and the Central Reexamination Unit.  Both opportunities provided Kristina with insights on how to effectively convey complicated scientific and legal information to her audience, whether it be a judge, a patent examiner or other patent official, or client.

Experience

  • 2010-2015 – Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer
    • 2010-2011 – patent agent
    • 2011-2015 – associate
  • 2015-present – Leydig, Voit & Mayer

Education

  • The John Marshall Law School, J.D., 2011
    • The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, Articles Editor
    • Giles S. Rich Moot Court Competition
    • Certificate in Intellectual Property Law
  • The John Hopkins Hospital, Cytotechnology Certification, 2004
  • University of Illinois, B.S. in Microbiology, 2003

Admissions

  • Illinois, 2011
  • Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Courts

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Honors

  • Leading Lawyers, selected as an emerging lawyer, 2017-2019
  • Super Lawyers, selected as a Rising Star, 2019-2020
  • Best Lawyers, selected as Ones to Watch, 2021-2024

Professional Affiliations

  • The Richard Linn American Inn of Court
    • Member (2010-present)
    • Scholarship committee (2017-2018)
    • Pupilage Group Program Chair (2016-2017)
    • Events Chair (2015-2016)
    • Scholarship Chair (2014-2015)
  • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago
    • Biotechnology Committee
    • Patents Committee
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association
  • Association of University Technology Managers
  • Licensing Executives Society International

Articles, Publications & Lectures

  • Co-presenter and Group Co-Chair, “Willfulness: Seagate Has Been Breached” The Richard Linn American Inn of Court, (2016)
  • College of DuPage, Engineering Orientation Class, Guest Speaker (2014-2016)
  • Co-presenter, “Judicial Can(n)ons” The Richard Linn American Inn of Court, (2014)
  • Panelist, “Professionalism & Practical Tips Program for Law Students,” The Richard Linn American Inn of Court, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago (2011)
  • ALI-ABA, Trial of a Patent Case, Faculty Speaker (2011)
  • “Patent agent privilege heads into uncertain waters after ruling,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, September 22, 2016
  • Kristina Roemer (co-author), “DNA Methylation in Anal Squamous Lesions and Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma,” Clinical Cancer Research, 11(18): 6544-9 (2005).

Education

  • The John Marshall Law School, J.D., 2011
  • The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, Articles Editor
  • Giles S. Rich Moot Court Competition
  • Certificate in Intellectual Property Law
  • The John Hopkins Hospital, Cytotechnology Certification, 2004
  • University of Illinois, B.S. in Microbiology, 2003

Admissions

  • Illinois, 2011
  • Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Courts

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois