Dr. Ivor Elrifi is the chair of Cooley's global 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 2019, he was singled out as the “Patent Strategy & Management Attorney of the Year” by LMG Life Sciences (he also won the award in 2018 and 2016). In addition, year after year, including 2019, 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, honored 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. In the latest edition of Chambers, Ivor is recognized as "a phenomenal biotech expert" with "a brilliant mind and a great penchant for detail," with one client noting "we could not have survived without him." 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.
