Mary Catherine DiNunzio is responsible for managing Lundbeck’s patent portfolio pertaining to specific drug development projects. Her duties include assessing and augmenting, when necessary, the scope of international protection needed for each project, conducting freedom to operate inquiries, and assessing licensing/business opportunities related to the projects. Mary Catherine is also responsible for developing and implementing intellectual property strategies relating to the extent of patent protection needed for various assets at different stages during the drug discovery and development process. She received a university degree in chemistry from Mississippi State University in 1990 and law degree from the Georg Washington University National Law Center in 1995. Mary Catherine was a patent examiner at  the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 1990 until 1992. She is a member of the state bars of New York and New Jersey and is registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. She was the speaker and the chairman of the Pharma & Biotech IP & Litigation (21-22 February 2008 in Brussels) conference.

What issues were addressed at the conference?
The conference was international in scope because intellectual property rights in many jurisdictions were discussed.  For example, the status of pending European and US litigation, the implementation of which will ultimately affect pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, was discussed. Prosecution strategies were also discussed and specific guidance was provided regarding prosecuting patent applications in Japan, India, Europe and the US.  A Senior Examiner from the European Patent Office also presented on post-grant procedures and the latest developments in view of EPC 2000.

What do you think about the speaker panel and the audience?
It was apparent by both the quality of the presentations and the resulting panel discussions that all of the conference attendees were highly skilled practitioners with years of experience in the intellectual property field.  This high level of skill contributed to detailed discussions on numerous issues and expanded the scope of the presentations beyond that which was addressed in the slides.  This also resulted in conference topics being discussed further during lunch and coffee breaks.

Could you mention any outstanding case study, best practice?
In my opinion, the most interesting discussions focused on intellectual property rights in China and India.  These topics seemed to be the most well received by participants since many pharmaceutical companies are expanding operations into these regions and are therefore concerned about obtaining, protecting and enforcing their patent rights.

Did you enjoy chairing the event? How did you like the conference?
I really enjoyed chairing the event.  It was wonderful meeting all of the speakers and the conference delegates.  I was impressed by the level of experience of the conference attendees.  I was impressed by the fact that the conference attendees and speakers heralded from a multitude of countries including India, Japan, Slovenia and the US. The varied backgrounds of the conference attendees allowed for rich and thorough discussions.