Pharmaceutical, Chair
Edward R. Gates
Ed Gates currently serves as Chairman of Wolf Greenfield, stepping down as President and Managing Partner after leading the firm for five years.
Ed's practice is devoted to IP counseling, licensing, patent portfolio development, and interferences. While most attorneys do not handle a single interference in their entire career, Ed has successfully represented companies and institutions in these complex and arcane proceedings. He began his career in litigation and uses this additional expertise for value-added client counseling and management.
His clients benefit from Ed's 20+ years of intellectual property experience. He uses IP to create value at the intersection of technology and business. He anticipates clients' needs and develops IP strategies that support business objectives. He has extensive experience serving as primary negotiator and/or lead counsel in dozens of licensing transactions.
Known nationally for his expertise in university policy with respect to IP, Ed is effective on either side of the table in structuring technology deals arising out of academic and hospital research institutions. He has also served on a university search committee charged with hiring a new Director of Technology Transfer.
- Built portfolios totaling over $1 billion in funding.
- Served as primary negotiator and lead counsel in marathon 30-hour bankruptcy auction resulting in revival of debtor.
American Intellectual Property Law Association
Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)
Boston Patent Law Associaiton
Licensing Executives Society
University of Massachusetts / Amherst
- Technology Innovation Challenge, Judge
Ed has repeatedly been named in Boston Magazine as one of Massachusetts’ “Super Lawyers” in the field of intellectual property law and has been named to Best Lawyers in America 2008 Edition.
In addition to acting as IP counsel, Ed has co-founded three biotechnology companies.
Yale University, B.S., Biology
Boston University School of Law, J.D.
Massachusetts
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
