Dr. Ivor Elrifi is the chair of Cooley’s patent counseling and prosecution practice group. He advises pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences and medical device companies, research institutions, universities, hospitals and governments throughout the world, particularly in the US and Europe. His practice includes patent prosecution, litigation, arbitration, licensing and transactional work with a focus on novel therapeutic treatments, biotechnology, genetics, diagnostics, biomarkers, drug formulations and medical devices.

Ivor counsels clients worldwide in developing and implementing patent strategies and in the prosecution, licensing and enforcement of patents. He has extensive experience in advising clients on transactional work and regularly counsels clients with respect to investments, mergers and acquisitions. He has also advised plaintiffs and defendants in patent litigation and arbitration cases.

Ivor is widely recognized as one of the top life sciences patent lawyers in the world by numerous prominent legal directories and publications. In 2018, he was singled out as the “Patent Strategy & Management Attorney of the Year” by LMG Life Sciences (he also won the award in 2016). In addition, year after year, including 2018, he has been named a “Life Sciences Star” by LMG Life Sciences, an “IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property, a leading patent lawyer by IAM Patent 1000, recognized as one of the world’s leading
experts on patent law by Euromoney, and named a leader in IP law by Chambers, Legal 500 and Super Lawyers.

Prior to joining Cooley, Ivor was co-chair and section manager of Mintz Levin’s intellectual property practice and a member of the firm’s management committee. Earlier in his career, he served as patent counsel and then general counsel and vice president for CytoTherapeutics in Providence, Rhode Island, and as patent counsel to Modex Therapeutics in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has spoken at numerous international conferences, and he has written numerous articles for leading legal and scientific publications.

Cooley LLP

Cooley LLP is a leading American international law firm with offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Seattle, Colorado, Virginia, London, Beijing, and Shanghai. The firm’s practice areas include corporate, litigation, intellectual property, fund formation, public markets, employment, life sciences, clean technology, real estate, financial services, retail, regulatory and energy.

Cooley is particularly known for its market-leading IP, technology and life sciences practices as well as its vast experience with marquee initial public offerings (IPOs) and deep-rooted venture capital connections & financings.

The firm has consistently been ranked as an elite law firm for technology and life sciences companies, startups and emerging growth companies, and venture capital firms, including by Above the Law, Vault, and U.S. News & World Report. Cooley represents as clients over a third of the companies on the Wall Street Journal’s Billion Dollar Startup Club.

According to Law360, Cooley is “widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s go-to law firms.” It is ranked as one of the 50 largest law firms in the world and is one of the most prestigious and selective law firms according to American Lawyer magazine.