Stephanie Vavra is senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP. She is a member of the firm’s Chemical, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Practice. Ms. Vavra manages a docket of cases for clients in the biotechnology, molecular diagnostics, and bioengineering fields. She is involved in the preparation of patent non-infringement and invalidity opinions as well as the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications related to genes, proteins, antibodies, molecular diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and human and animal food products. Ms. Vavra has extensive experience in the areas of genetics and molecular biology, routinely handling biotechnological, nucleic acid, and protein sequence cases. She also has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications, assisting in patent portfolio management and assisting in patent portfolio evaluation as it relates to licensing and acquisitions in the fields of biotechnology.
Prior to joining Foley, Ms. Vavra worked in the biotechnology industry as a research and development scientist, with a focus on eukaryotic expression and molecular diagnostics, and also worked as a patent agent.
Ms. Vavra received her law degree, magna cum laude, from Marquette University Law School in 2005. During law school, she was an editor for the Marquette Law Review. She received her master’s degree in genetics (M.S., 1992) from the University of Wisconsin and her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in genetics and cell biology (B.S., 1987) from the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Vavra co-authored the article "Supreme Court Leaves Circuits Divided over National Geographic CD-Rom," World Copyright Law Report, February 2006.
Ms. Vavra is a member of the Association for Women Lawyers and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Ms. Vavra is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, before the United States District Court of Wisconsin, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.