Lectures & Articles

Q&A With Birch Stewart's MaryAnne Armstrong

Law360, New York (May 31, 2012, 5:29 PM ET) -- Dr. MaryAnne Armstrong is a partner in the Falls Church, Va., office of Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch LLP. She has practiced in the intellectual property field since 1995, particularly in the fields of immunology, pharmaceutical chemistry, biotechnology, small molecule organic chemistry, assay and drug screening systems, polymer chemistry, medical devices and plant patents.

Armstrong has experience in both domestic and foreign prosecution of patent applications in both World Intellectual Property Organization member countries and nonmember countries, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She also has experience in inter partes matters before the USPTO, including interference practice and inter partes reexamination.

Armstrong counsels both large and small clients with regard to infringement, validity and patentability issues, licensing issues and collaboration research agreements. She serves as the chairwoman-elect of the "chemistry and the law" division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and has spoken around the world regarding intellectual property.

Q: What is the most challenging case you have worked on and what made it challenging?

A: The most challenging case that I have worked on over the past several years has been an inter partes reexamination. It was one of the earliest inter partes reexaminations filed, so it was challenging to make sure we were doing everything correctly from a procedural standpoint and to make sure we put our best case forward.

The rest of the Q&A session can be read here.