Debra Nye is a partner in the San Diego office of Foley & Lardner LLP. She is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation; Chemical, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical; and Privacy, Security & Information Management Practices, as well as its Life Sciences Industry Team. She focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property counseling and litigation. Ms. Nye has broad experience in intellectual property litigation including trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition disputes, with a focus on patent disputes. Ms. Nye has successfully prevailed in patent cases at jury trials and in summary judgment rulings. Ms. Nye’s patent litigation experience includes disputes involving many different technologies such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemical manufacture, genetics, computer software, and electronics. Ms. Nye also advises clients on issues of intellectual property protection and management.
Before joining Foley, Ms. Nye was an associate at the intellectual property firm of Senniger, Powers, Leavitt & Roedel in St. Louis, Missouri. Her practice included patent preparation and prosecution, intellectual property litigation and dispute resolution, and patent and intellectual property counseling. Prior to beginning her legal career, Ms. Nye was a senior nuclear medicine technologist with The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ms. Nye graduated, magna cum laude, from Medical College of Georgia in 1990 with a B.S. in nuclear medicine technology. She earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1998, where she received the Clifford W. Gaylord Foundation Scholar in Law Award. Ms. Nye is admitted to practice in California, Missouri, Illinois, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ms. Nye is also admitted to practice before numerous United States District Courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Publications and Presentations
- Co-author, America Invents Act: Law & Analysis, Wolters Kluwer, 2012.
- "How to Make Your IP Assets Work Double Duty While Minimizing the Risks of Disputes," Rewards and Risks of "Green" Web Conference Series, Speaker, July 29, 2010.
- "License Agreements and Litigation: Protecting Your Assets and Revenue Streams in the High-Tech and Life Science Industries," San Diego Breakfast Briefing, Speaker, January 21, 2010.
- "New Day, New Target: Changing Venue and Methods for IP Litigation," What‘s Your Next Move? IP in the New Business Reality, Panel Moderator and Speaker, October 6, 2009.
- "New Class Action Case Raises New Questions," E-commerce Law Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 3, 2009.
- "Claim Interpretation in Patent Litigation," MCLE, Speaker, June 18, 2009.
- "Getting the Most From Your IP Portfolio Management and Litigation Avoidance," MCLE, Speaker, March 19, 2009.
- "Patent Infringement: A Target for the Plaintiff’s Bar," MCLE, Speaker, February 20, 2009.
- "Texas Eastern District: IP Equipoise?" IP Law 360, January 5, 2009.
- "Structuring Deals and Licenses Post Quanta," Licensing Executive Society, San Diego, Presenter, November 11, 2008.
- "Structuring Deals and Licenses Post Quanta," Patent Nation Web Conference, Presenter, August 12, 2008.
- "Making Innovation Pay: Capitalizing on Your Intellectual Property," Boston Annual meeting of the Women President’s Organization, April 25, 2008.
- "Nonobviousness in Courts: The Impact of KSR," CASRIP High Technology Protection Summit in Seattle, July 20-21, 2007.