McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Margaret’s extensive experience includes advising clients in evaluating patent portfolio positions; analyzing freedom-to-operate issues; identifying and evaluating targets for potential investment, mergers, or acquisitions; Hatch-Waxman patent litigation; patent term extensions and adjustments; and patent office proceedings.

She is highly skilled in a variety of transactions such as inbound and outbound licensing and option agreements, development and collaboration agreements, clinical research agreement, clinical and commercial supply agreements, manufacturing agreements, sponsored research agreements, technology transfers, and royalty monetization transactions.

Margaret also has a significant research background, focused on molecular genetics, recombinant DNA and stem cell research, including making mouse knock-out models to better understand the function of genes in an organism.

During law school, Margaret was editor-in-chief of the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal.

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• Represented pharmaceutical company in its $130 million acquisition, through an unsolicited offer, of a developer of products for the treatment of a central nervous system disorder*
• Represented pharmaceutical company in a world-wide, exclusive license, development and collaboration agreement for the development of an early-stage drug product to treat pain for an up-front payment of $41 million, along with additional milestone payments and tiered royalties*
• Represented pharmaceutical company in an exclusive license and supply agreement in the US of an FDA-approved drug product to treat mental disorders for an up-front payment of $40 million, along with additional milestone payments and tiered royalties*
• Represented pharmaceutical company in its acquisition of a privately held pharmaceutical and drug delivery company focused on inhalation technologies and early-stage products for lung diseases and infections, for a $40 million payment, along with additional milestone payments and tiered royalties*
• Represented specialty pharmaceutical company in out-licensing US rights to a post-505(b)(2) filing combination product for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease for an up-front payment of $15 million, along with additional milestone payments and tiered royalties*
• Represented biotechnology company in out-licensing ex-US rights to a drug product in Phase 2 clinical trials, as well as in numerous clinical and commercial pharmaceutical product supply agreements and clinical trial agreements, for the drug product*
• Represented biotechnology company in a joint venture to leverage intellectual property platforms from two companies to develop fusion protein biologics to treat cancer and other human therapeutic indications*
• Represented investment firm in IP due diligence and associated IP licensing and assignment agreements for a $345 million joint venture investment to explore and promote a new technology to produce biofuels*

Intellectual Property Counseling

• Represented international investment management company on a royalty purchase agreement for sales of FDA-approved drug in the US, which involved managing the interests of multiple parties, including negotiating and drafting ancillary agreements with interested parties*
• Represented a biotechnology company in the development of its licensing strategy for its proprietary pharmaceutical formulation platform technology, and on-going negotiations of transactions with pharmaceutical companies related to such platform technology*
• Represented a biotechnology company in transactions related to the development of the company’s plant-based vaccine expression technology*
• Development of clinical trial agreements for a biotechnology company dedicated to the development, manufacturing and commercialization of drugs, immunotherapies, tools and diagnostics primarily in the area of cancer*
• Development of transactional agreements for a biotechnology company dedicated to the long-term development of sustainable alternatives for the food, pharmaceuticals and supplement markets*

Patent Litigation

• (E.D. Tex.) — Represented a pharmaceutical company as a team member in a patent litigation relating to a biologic pharmaceutical product*
• Represented a biotechnology diagnostic company as a team member in a patent litigation and prevailed on summary judgment of non-infringement for proprietary system of stem cell production and sorting*
• (M.D. Tenn.) — Represented a pharmaceutical company as a team member in litigation involving breach of joint development agreement and dispute over patent rights for technology developed as part of the joint development*

Patent Post-Grant Proceedings

• Represented pharmaceutical company in an inter partes review trial before the PTAB regarding a patent covering the company’s marketed drug product; validity of the patent was upheld*
• Represented a research tools company in four inter partes reexaminations related to high-throughput sequencing that resulted in rejections of all challenged patent claims through Actions Closing Prosecution in less than 12 months from filing of initial requests*

Arbitration

• Represented biotechnology company in a dispute with its licensee regarding alleged breach of contract and associated damages to the licensed patent estate; arbitrators awarded damages to biotechnology company*
• Represented a biotechnology research tools company as a team member in an arbitration regarding the client’s cell-based product and prevailed when the US Patent and Trademark Office found that the patent had expired many years earlier*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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• Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year in Austin: Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice, 2020 and 2025
• Managing Intellectual Property, IP Star, 2014-2017; Patent and Trademark Star, 2024
• Managing Intellectual Property, Top 250 Women in IP, 2014-2017
• Thomson Reuters, Texas Super Lawyer, 2016-2018
• BTI Client Service All-Star, 2015

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