Salima Merani, PhD

Practice Areas

International Trademarks

Trademark Clearance, Registration & Enforcement

Trademarks & Brand Protection

Patent Prosecution

PTAB Ex Parte Patent Proceedings

IP Strategy

Due Diligence

Opinions & Counseling

IP Transactions & Agreements

Patents

PTAB IPR & Post-Grant Proceedings

Career

Salima Merani, Ph.D. is the Co-Chair of Knobbe Martens' Medical Device Group. Salima has over two decades of experience in building patent portfolios for life sciences companies, including several medtech, biopharma and biotech companies. She also has extensive experience in conducting patent due diligence for investors, such as venture capital and investment firms. Recognized in prestigious publications as "a great strategic advisor with a proven track record" and deemed "a favorite of venture capitalists", Salima has been lead IP counsel in deals valued at over three billion dollars in just the last few years.

Salima provides a unique perspective to both investors and emerging growth companies with her wide-ranging experience in US and international patent and trademark portfolio management, licensing, strategic offensive positioning, infringement analysis, IPOs, acquisitions, and managing global patent risk.

Her technical experience in medical devices includes strategic guidance in the fields of aesthetics, orthopedics, cardiovascular and neuroscience, including medical implants, denervation and tissue ablation, regenerative technology, antibody technology, hypertension, diabetes, ophthalmic and dermatological conditions. Salima's technical work outside the medical arena includes a deep knowledge in the fields of cosmetic formulations and nutraceuticals.

Salima has received multiple awards and has been honored in both national and international forums for her legal accomplishments. In 2018-2022, she was designated as a IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property, which also honored her in their global “Top 250 Women in IP” list from 2018-2022. Salima was also included in the prestigious Chambers USA Guide (in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2017, and 2016), where she was lauded as an exceptional strategic advisor in both the Patent Prosecution and Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation categories. She won the coveted "2016 Client Choice Award" for Intellectual Property (Patents, California) by International Law Office (ILO). Legal Media Group named her "Patent Prosecution Attorney of the Year" in 2015 in the "LMG Life Sciences Annual Awards". She was featured in The National Law Journal's 2015 "IP Hot List". In Intellectual Asset Management's "IAM Patent 1000" lists (honored 2012-2021), Salima was praised for her skills in brokering blockbuster life sciences deals and described as "a true global leader in medical device patenting." Salima was also honored in the "Life Sciences" survey for Intellectual Property, The Recorder's list of Women Leaders in Tech Law, and the Daily Journal's list of the Top IP Lawyers in California and Top Women Lawyers. For the past several years, Salima has been recognized in the Daily Journal's list of the Top Intellectual Property Attorneys, where she has been identified among the Top 25 Portfolio Managers & Patent Prosecutors of Intellectual Property. The Legal 500 "United States 2021" guide highlighted Salima's extensive experience in conducting patent due diligence. She has also been named as one of Orange County’s top lawyers, published in OC Metro magazine. Salima's accomplishments are detailed in the Recognition section.

Salima is past Vice Chair of the AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association) USPTO Inter Partes Patent Proceedings Committee, which oversees the Interference, Reexamination, and Derivation subcommittees. She also served on the AIPLA’s Special Task Force on AIA (America Invents Act) Rulemaking. Salima is also a founding member of the Firm's USPTO Trials and Post Grant Proceedings Practice Group (previously the Interference and Derivation Committee), and has represented clients in multiple patent inventorship and ownership disputes before the USPTO and international patent and trademark offices. She is an author and speaker on strategic patent portfolio management.

Professional Memberships

Past Vice Chair of the AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association) USPTO Inter Partes Patent Proceedings Committee, which oversees the Interference, Reexamination, and Derivation subcommittees

Served on the AIPLA’s Special Task Force on AIA (America Invents Act) Rulemaking

Education