Partner
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Joined: 2011
and access,
Pier DeRoo has broad experience in strategic client counseling and patent litigation before U.S. district courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He works with innovative companies across industries, from global conglomerates to startups. Pier has represented parties in more than 50 proceedings before the PTAB. His experience includes inter partes review (IPR), interference, reexamination, and ex parte prosecution appeal proceedings involving a range of technologies and industries, including agriculture (e.g., crop protection and plant genetics), monoclonal antibody pharmaceuticals and other biologics, small-molecule drugs, enzymes used in food and biofuel production, and solid-state materials for renewable energy devices. Pier represents biotech and chemical clients in a variety of litigation venues, including U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), as well as in arbitration. His litigation experience includes managing pre-suit investigations, conducting all stages of fact and expert discovery, dispositive motions, and trial representation. Pier particularly enjoys counseling innovative and growing clients on a diverse array of patent matters. He has prepared numerous validity, infringement, and freedom-to-operate opinions for clients in the life science and chemical fields, drawing on his extensive litigation background. Pier also has significant experience managing patent portfolios and providing strategic prosecution guidance in the chemical arts. A substantial portion of Pier’s time is devoted to pro bono matters. He has represented disabled clients in several federal appeals, including as lead and backup counsel on amicus briefs before the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Pier was recognized as a finalist for Managing Intellectual Property’s (MIP) Practitioner of the Year (PTAB) award in 2024.