Melissa’s practice focuses on strategic patent counseling, including management and prosecution of complex IP portfolios for diverse clients ranging from early stage to established companies. A registered patent attorney, Melissa has managed patent portfolios involving a wide range of technologies, including biologics, drug-device combinations, biofuels, personalized medicine, cancer therapeutics, tissue grafts, immunology, plant biotechnology, medical devices, women’s health, gene editing, and stem cells.

Melissa regularly counsels clients regarding freedom to operate and patentability , conducts due diligence and evaluates patent portfolios in preparation for capital investment, prepares memoranda on inventorship, and oversees worldwide patent prosecution. Prior to joining Mintz, she was an associate in the San Diego office of another international law firm.

Before she earned her law degree, Melissa was a postdoctoral fellow at UC San Diego, where she studied the regulation of hypothalamic GnRH neurons by steroid hormones. Her PhD thesis was titled, “Progesterone Regulation of the Human MUC1 Gene in Uterine Epithelial Cells.” She also earned an MBA with a concentration in new venture creation.

In addition to her intellectual property practice, Melissa has worked on a number of immigration cases for pro bono clients.

*Not admitted to practice in Delaware