Leydig, Voit & Mayer, LTD. Intellectual Property Law

Joseph Contrera Joins Leydig Voit & Mayer

December 15, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2008 – Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd., an intellectual property law firm based in Chicago, is pleased to announce that Joseph G. Contrera has joined its Washington, D.C. office as Counsel. He will concentrate in patent prosecution, litigation, U.S. Food & Drug Administration administrative and regulatory matters, as well as technology transfer and licensing. He had been practicing intellectual property law for over a decade at two different Washington, D.C. firms before joining Leydig, Voit & Mayer.

In addition to patent matters, Mr. Contrera presently advises clients on compliance with federal, NIH, and FDA regulations, including the emerging area of generic biologics, and counsels clients on the valuation of their intellectual property portfolios with respect to patent and FDA issues. He also has extensive experience in counseling start-ups and emerging companies, as well as universities in managing and developing their intellectual property.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Contrera was a technology licensing specialist at the National Institutes of Health. At NIH, he negotiated licensing and technology transfer deals with the private sector and academia, on behalf of both NIH and FDA, for which he received the NIH Award of Merit in 1998. Prior to that, he was a biologist at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, where he received a Group Recognition Award in 1997. He has given presentations on technology transfer at national meetings and is an author on numerous scientific and legal publications.

Mr. Contrera received his J.D. from The American University, Washington College of Law in 1995, a M.S. in Cell Biochemistry and Pharmacology from Hood College in 1987, and a B.S. in Biochemistry in 1985 from the University of Maryland.

For more than a century, Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd. has assisted clients - from large corporations to individual inventors - with intellectual property litigation, counseling, licensing, and prosecution services worldwide. The firm prides itself on its ability to meet the most demanding intellectual property needs of its clients.