Bio

Charles Calkins practices intellectual property law with a focus on patent law and intellectual property transactions. Mr. Calkins, a registered patent attorney, has more than 35 years of experience in client counseling and portfolio management in patent procurement, licensing and enforcement, primarily in the life sciences, chemical, medical and computer software arts. His current practice includes a focus on the corporate and transactional aspects of intellectual property, including licensing, research and development/joint venture agreements and merger, acquisition and/or equity investment due diligence. He has been involved in well over 100 transactions in a variety of technologies including aerospace, pharmaceuticals, commodity futures trading, medical devices, personalized genetic medicine, semiconductors and DNA sequencing technologies including NextGen sequencing. Mr. Calkins' experiences allow him to understand the business value of intellectual property and work with clients to maximize return on their investments and/or acquisitions. Mr. Calkins has worked with companies, investment banks, private equity groups, venture capitalists and other institutional investment groups to conduct due diligence and provide counseling relating to potential investments, acquisitions and/or mergers ranging in size from several hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than one billion dollars. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Calkins is a Chair of the Piedmont Angel Network, an investor in over forty emerging technology companies and active in the regional and national technology communities. He is also past Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at University of North Carolina Greensboro. Mr. Calkins is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell* and has been named to Business North Carolina’s "Legal Elite" list. He has been recognized as a North Carolina "Super Lawyer" in the areas of Intellectual Property and Mergers & Acquisitions by Super Lawyers magazine. He was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Intellectual Property Law in 2018 and the 11 years immediately preceding and for Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice, Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Litigation, and Patent Law in 2023 and the four years immediately preceding. He was also named a "Greensboro Lawyer of the Year" in 2013, 2015 and 2018 in the area of Patent Law, in 2017 and 2019 in the area of Patent Litigation, a "Triad Lawyer of the Year" in 2020 in the area of Intellectual Property Litigation, and a "Triad Lawyer of the Year" in 2021, 2022 and 2023 in the area of Patent Law by The Best Lawyers in America®. Mr. Calkins was named a "Law Impact Leader" by Business Leader magazine. He was named a "Global IP Luminary" by IP World for his exemplary work in the intellectual property legal area. In 2016, Mr. Calkins was recognized among the Triad's "Most Influential" professional executives by the Triad Business Journal for the 12th consecutive year. He is listed in the 2023 and the 11 immediately preceding editions of Chambers USA in the area of Intellectual Property and he is listed in the 2023 and the ten preceding editions as #1 in the area of Intellectual Property. Mr. Calkins has been recognized as an "IP Star" in 2023 and the ten years immediately preceding by Managing Intellectual Property magazine. He was recognized as a top patent practitioner in 2022 and the seven years immediately preceding by IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners. Mr. Calkins was recommended by Legal 500 US in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021 for Patent Prosecution and again in 2016 for Patent Portfolio Management and Licensing. He is a former Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section and remains active on the Section Council.