Gretchen DeVries, Ph.D., leverages her science background to help clients build and defend strong patent portfolios for innovative technologies spanning a wide range of industries, from materials sciences to electrical and computer technology.
With a multifaceted practice spanning both patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings, Gretchenknows what makes patentsboth strong and vulnerable at the post-grant stage; this holistic perspective informs her strategy for building portfolios that will withstand scrutiny.In her prosecution practice, Gretchen manages patent portfolios for academic institutions and small and midsized companies, helping them develop protection strategies that align with both their technological innovations and their business goals. She advises clients in technology areas such as integrated circuit design and fabrication, materials processing, medical devices, consumer products, clean energy, data processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Gretchen also maintains a robust post-grant practice, handling inter partes review and ex parte reexamination proceedings on behalf of both patent owners and challengers. Like her prosecution practice, Gretchen’s post grant experience spans an array of technologies; she has worked on matters pertaining to mobile device display technology, wearable devices, lithium-ion batteries, integrated circuits, textiles, and autonomous vehicles, among other innovations.
Gretchen earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from MIT, where she studied the self-assembly of nanomaterials. Her research has been published in Science. Prior to beginning her career in law, she gained research and industry experience in semiconductor fabrication and packaging technologies.
When she’s not at work, Gretchen loves travelling in the U.S. and abroad with her two daughters; they particularly enjoy their regular trips to visit family in Italy.
