Biography
Eric E. Silverman, PhD has twenty years of intellectual property experience over a wide range of industries and technologies. Eric started his IP career as a patent examiner at the USPTO, where he became a primary examiner of patent applications in technologies including pharmaceutical formulations, drug delivery, medical devices, implants, and cosmetics. He then spent several years in large international law firms where his practice included IP litigation, prosecution, and due diligence in technologies such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, solar power, petrochemicals, oil and gas, and ceramics. Eric has practiced in-house for over a decade, first at 3M where, as a Director and Assistant Chief IP Counsel, he supported patent acquisition, strategy, and conflicts, confidentiality, licensing, and trade secrets for a variety of businesses including food safety, drug delivery, manufacturing technologies, adhesives, and green packaging. He also served as IP counsel on several M&A transactions. Eric moved from 3M to become Director, IP Counsel at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, where he oversaw the patent program for BioMarin’s small molecule assets as well as non-patent IP matters including copyright. Eric is now a Senior IP Attorney at Genentech, Inc. (a member of the Roche Group), where his practice includes IP support for small molecule oncology programs as well as trade secrets.
Eric is a prolific speaker on intellectual property, and has presented on topics such as licensing, USPTO practice and procedure, ethics, and IP fundamentals to both legal and scientific audiences. He is a leader in the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), where he currently serves as vice-chair of the AIPLA Corporate Practice Committee.
Eric holds a B.S in Chemistry with university honors and a minor in English from Carnegie Mellon University, a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida, where he was a Grinter Fellow, and a JD with honors from the George Washington University Law School. Prior to his intellectual property career, Eric was a visiting scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratories in Upton, NY.