Cheryl Liljestrand, Ph.D., J.D.

Cheryl.Liljestrand@StipkalaLaw.com
Phone: 281.485.4094
Pearland, TX

Cheryl Liljestrand has over ten years of experience in corporate intellectual property protection counseling.  Dr. Liljestrand obtained her BS (Microbiology) and PhD (Molecular Genetics) from Texas A&M University.  She obtained her Juris Doctor (Law) degree from the George Washington University Law Center in Washington D.C. 

Dr. Liljestrand became a U.S. Patent Examiner in the sequencing and genetic probe area of Group 1600, after spending fifteen years in research in the fields of molecular genetics, immunology, and cancer. She began her law career at Finnegan, Henderson, Farrabow, Garret and Dunner, L.L.P. in 1997, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, providing litigation support, and counseling clients.  She joined Tanox, Inc, in Texas in 2001 as Intellectual Property Counsel and became Director and sole in-house IP Counsel in 2003. 

Dr. Liljestrand was first admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1997, followed by the District of Columbia Bar in 1998, and the Texas Bar in 2003.  She is registered as a patent attorney (Reg. # 45,275) to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Liljestrand has written over 50 biotechnology-related patent applications and prosecuted over 75 US applications to issuance, as well as numerous foreign patent applications.  She has prosecuted patents in a variety of technology areas including monoclonal antibody technology, primer technology, vaccines, designer pharmaceuticals, genetically engineered crops, apoptosis, and protein/peptide therapeutics.

Dr. Liljestrand served for the last eight years as in-house counsel for a successful biotechnology company that was recently acquired by Genentech.  In addition to her extensive experience in patent preparation and prosecution, she conducted infringement and validity analyses; IP due diligence for acquisitions and technology assessment; advised clients on portfolio management and life-cycle management of technology portfolios, including global patent strategies; and freedom-to-operate searches for newly proposed targets.

Dr. Liljestrand is able to assist biotechnology startup companies in all aspects of their IP portfolio, as well as provide scientist training on laboratory notebook practices and invention disclosures necessary for capturing new inventions and protecting them.  She also provides trade secret, licensing, and branding advice and services for clients from her office near Houston, TX.