Kevin Buckley

Personal Introduction

Hi Everyone, I'm an international patent attorney and founded Torrey Pines Law Group to fill the gaps left by BigLaw when commercializing client technologies -- mostly life sciences and healthcare technologies. When I was with a big law firm years ago, the patent practitioners didn't coordinate with the FDA regulatory practitioners who didn't coordinate with the technology transactions team who didn't coordinate with the corporate team... You get the picture. The BigLaw workflow to assist a client in getting a drug to market (amongst many other things) just seemed exorbitantly expensive and silly. So, as you can imagine, I've focused on successfully improving on that process and helping our clients more quickly reach the market with therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices and many other technologies. My firm does not litigate or handle contentious matters before the US Patent & Trademark Office, however, so I am particularly interested in referring matters (patent litigation and related business disputes, as well as Inter Partes Review, Ex Parte Review, Post Grant Review, and other matters before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board) to interested attorneys. In addition, I'm interested in working with local and international tax, securities, corporate, regulatory, employment, and education/government lawyers who operate in the technology startup and university/private research institute context. It's always great to meet likeminded attorneys. My career includes more than 20 years of experience as a Biopharma and Digital Health executive, lawyer, and biochemist studying immuno-oncology, RNA-derived antiviral therapeutics, and bioinformatics systems. I've handled complex intellectual property, transactional and FDA regulatory matters in what is now the world’s largest international law firm (now known as Dentons), the largest US university, the first medical device company to obtain FDA clearance for AI-enabled breast cancer detection, and in a commercial-stage international biopharmaceutical company. My clients include healthcare, life sciences, digital health, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, in vitro diagnostics, specialty chemical, artificial intelligence (AI), and convergence technology businesses. The "convergence" often includes Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Natural Language Processing (NLP), computer vision, neural networks, and complex algorithms. I successfully implement pharmaceutical lifecycle management, product lifecycle management, and worldwide patent portfolio development strategies. In addition, I regularly conduct IP due diligence related to international in-licensing and out-licensing transactions inbound and outbound to Europe, China, Canada, South America, Mexico, Korea, and Japan. I also conduct due diligence related to investment funding, mergers, acquisitions, licenses, and Initial Public Offerings. I also assist with drafting and negotiating contracts related to distribution, supply, manufacturing, licensing, resale, collaboration, joint venture, clinical trial, product marketing, data use, safety, pharmacovigilance, right of reference, and myriad other agreements. I engage a trusted network of local and international tax, securities, corporate, regulatory, and litigation counsel when required. I've also been an academic advisor to entrepreneurship centers at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton, Law, and Medicine), Washington University in St. Louis, and UC San Diego. I was also an Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law where he taught a Biotechnology Law intersession course. It was interesting to become an expert witness with respect to Hatch-Waxman and other pharmaceutical patent issues in a medical malpractice case recently. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry/Chemistry from UC San Diego where I was an undergraduate Research Scholar. I then received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where I was Editor-in-Chief of the Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law and Policy.