Attorney Profiles

SUSIE S. CHENG
Chair of the China Practice Group

Direct Dial: 914.821.3077

cheng@leasonellis.com
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PROFESSIONAL PROFILE:

Dr. Susie Cheng specializes in pharmaceutical and biotechnology matters for clients including academic institutions, start-ups, mid-cap, and multinational companies. She advises her clients on the strategic development, ongoing management, preparation, and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent portfolios involving a wide range of technologies. These technologies include drug screening, small molecules, biologics (such as vaccines, antisense, proteins, antibodies, stem cells, and growth factors), pharmaceuticals (such as therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic disease, lysosomal storage disease, cardiovascular disease, ocular disease, diabetes, and pain), enzyme replacement therapies, molecular diagnostics, medical devices, cosmetic products, and personal health products. She advises her clients on patent strategies during all stages of drug development including pre-clinical and clinical activities and successfully obtained key patents related to therapeutics developed for marketing. Her services include conducting freedom-to-operate, patentability, non-infringement, and validity opinions, as well as due diligence investigations of companies including their patent portfolios, products, and involvement in legal proceedings for investment, licensing, and acquisition opportunities. She also advises her clients on agreements such as, license agreement, research agreement, non-disclosure agreement, stock-purchase agreement and assignment agreement. For clients doing business in Asia, her fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin make her a highly effective communicator on their behalf.

She was a student law clerk to the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. Susie has previously worked with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent groups at Pennie & Edmonds and Jones Day.

PRO BONO:
Susie served as a Special Assistant District Attorney in a pro bono project in conjunction with the Appeals Division of Kings County District Attorney's Office. She prepared a brief and appeared in front of the appellate division of the second department on behalf of the district attorney's office and successfully affirmed the conviction of a defendant in a murder trial. Susie also participated in a pro bono project in connection with InMotion, a non-profit organization for seeking divorce for women subjected to domestic violence.


BAR ADMISSIONS:
State of New York
Registered Patent Attorney: United States Patent and Trademark Office

COURT ADMISSIONS:
U.S. Southern and Eastern District Courts of New York
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

EDUCATION:
J.D., Brooklyn Law School, 1998
Ph.D., Genetics, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, 1993
B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Biological Sciences, Hunter College, City University of New York, 1987