K&L Gates Continues IP Practice Growth, Bolsters Pharma, Biotech Capabilities with Addition of 10-Person Patent Team in Boston

Boston - Global law firm K&L Gates LLP continues the expansion of its intellectual property practice with the addition of partners Hannah Koyfman, Ph.D., and David Lu, Ph.D., and their 10-person team. The team, which includes lawyers, patent agents, technology specialists, and other allied professionals, joins K&L Gates’ Boston office from Lando & Anastasi, LLP, and enhances the firm’s life science IP capabilities.

Koyfman and Lu are among the more than 110 new partners and of counsel who have joined the firm globally since the beginning of 2020. This includes the additions of IP partners in Melbourne, Portland, Orange County, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, and Nashville all during the past year, as well as an IP Agency in China and a team of IP lawyers in Japan. As its IP practice continues to grow, K&L Gates remains the only globally financially integrated law firm able to offer clients IP services across four continents.

“We are proud to welcome Hannah, David, and their diverse team to our burgeoning IP group,” said Bob Barrett, a co-leader of K&L Gates’ intellectual property practice area. “They have an incredible cutting-edge life science practice with a stable of well-known clients who we look forward to serving more fully through our expansive global IP practice.”

Koyfman helps clients in the biotechnology industry to design and execute global patent strategies that are integral to their business objectives. She guides clients on a variety of patent areas, including strategic counseling, application drafting, patent prosecution, freedom-to-operate analysis, and non- infringement and invalidity opinions.

Koyfman handles matters in a variety of technologies including cell therapies, CRISPR, viral vectors, antibody therapeutics, fusion proteins, manufacturing of biologics, diagnostic methods, and medical devices. She works with clients across all stages of growth, from early-stage startups and their venture capital investors to large pharmaceutical companies.

Lu focuses his practice on strategic patent prosecution and intellectual property counseling, and due diligence for life science industries. He designs global patent strategies in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and manages large patent portfolios for a variety of clients.

Lu’s clients range from international corporations and mid-sized biotech companies to venture capital funded startups. He handles matters in numerous technology areas, including cancer therapies, genome technologies, gene therapies, antibody drugs, personalized medicine, RNA therapeutics, diagnostic methods, and medical devices.

Fluent in Mandarin and Shanghainese, Lu is a member of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts. He previously investigated the biogenesis of messenger RNA and microRNA as well as the molecular biology of HIV-1 and other pathogenic human viruses in graduate school. Lu’s postdoctoral fellowship focused on exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying breast and ovarian cancer and their impact on the next generation of cancer therapy. Lu is also a member of the Boston Patent Law Association and the Duke Boston Regional Board.

Mark Haddad, partner in the K&L Gates Boston office, commented: “We are extremely excited to welcome David, Hannah, and their team to our Boston ranks. This next generational group of life science lawyers is performing cutting-edge work in the ever-burgeoning biotechnology and pharmaceuticals markets, and we look forward to partnering with them to apply their unique skills to servicing clients in the Boston region and across our international platform.”

K&L Gates’ IP practice has more than 200 lawyers and professionals – including more than 100 registered patent lawyers, agents, and technology specialists with technical or advanced science degrees, nearly 30 with doctorates – who devote their practices to helping clients establish, enforce, and leverage their intellectual property rights worldwide. Through its members across the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Australia, K&L Gates’ IP practice filed more than 5,500 patent applications and 4,500 trademarks worldwide in 2021.