Dr. Eric Owens

Eric helps clients navigate the complex world of patent law in the chemical, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. From positioning intellectual property (IP) portfolios for early-stage investments to leading IP diligence on buy/sell side asset acquisitions, Eric combines his hands-on experience with advanced technologies with strategic insight.

As an integral business adviser, Eric regularly performs IP diligence for initial public offerings (IPOs), licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and other financial transactions. Drawing on his experience managing patent strategy for both platform innovations as well as late-stage US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved assets (Rubraca, Niktimvo, etc.), Eric crafts IP positions which sharpen his clients’ competitive edge in the marketplace, ensuring that their innovations continue to fend off generic challenges and realize full revenue potential. When not involved at an early stage, Eric is commonly sought prelitigation to pressure test key exclusivity patents, assess risk, and craft remedial solutions.

Eric’s technological experience spans the full spectrum of life sciences and includes small molecule drugs, protein and polypeptide therapeutics, antibody therapeutics, oligonucleotides, lipid nanoparticle technology, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), molecular glues, proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), psychedelics, natural products/derivatives, prodrugs, pharmaceutical formulations, solid forms/polymorphs, dosing methodology, therapeutic combinations, organic synthesis methodology, polymer chemistry/materials, analytical methodology, analytical devices, stents, implantable pain management devices, imaging technology (single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), near-infrared (NIR), photoacoustic, etc.), fluorescent sensors, photodynamic therapy, bioanalytical chemistry, MRI analysis software, cosmetics, and consumer products.

With a deep commitment to both professional excellence and community service, Eric not only helps clients in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors protect their innovations but also dedicates significant time to pro bono work. His passion for advocacy extends to protecting LGBTQ+ youth, safeguarding children appearing before New York courts, assisting Central and South American clients in securing U-visas, and helping Afghan refugees apply for asylum in the US. These experiences have honed his ability to navigate complex legal challenges while reinforcing his belief in the power of legal work to drive meaningful change.

Before joining Cooley, Eric worked as a patent agent in the Washington, DC, office of a US-based international corporate law firm and with the licensing and patent groups at the Emory University Office of Technology Transfer.

Eric completed his PhD in organic and medicinal chemistry under the direction of Dr. Hak Soo Choi at Harvard Medical School and Dr. Maged Henary at Georgia State University, where he designed and successfully completed several highly impactful research projects. Specifically, his NIR fluorescent imaging research helped create a paradigm shift in cancer surgery by allowing surgeons to visualize native and diseased tissue in real time, resulting in more precise surgical resections and improved patient prognosis. Eric’s drug design contributions include G-quadruplex targeted anti-cancer theranostic agents and designing synthetic analogs of natural products.

Eric published 30+ manuscripts in highly esteemed journals like Nature Medicine, Accounts of Chemical Research, and Angewandte Chemie and currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Expert Opinion of Therapeutic Patents, focusing on therapeutics, diagnostics and bioanalytical chemistry at the intersection of intellectual property law.

Representative publications

• Co-author, “The Bitter and the Sweet: Supreme Court Oral Argument Indicates Potential Split on Constitutionality of Inter Partes Patent Review,” Haynes and Boone, 2017
• Co-author, “Tissue-Specific Near-infrared Fluorescence Imaging,” Accounts of Chemical Research 49 (9), pp. 1731 – 1740, 2016
• Co-author, “Near-Infrared Illumination of Native Tissues for Image-Guided Surgery,” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 59 (11), pp. 5311 – 5323, 2016 
• Co-author, “Cartilage Specific Near-Infrared Fluorophores for Biomedical Imaging,” Angewandte Chemie 54 (30), pp. 8648 – 8652, 2015 (Hot Article – top 10% of publications)
• Co-author, “Parathyroid and Thyroid Gland Imaging using Fluorinated Polymethines,” Nature Medicine 21, pp. 192 – 197, 2015
• Co-author, “Correlating Molecular Character of NIR Imaging Agents with Tissue-Specific Uptake,” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 58 (10), pp. 4348 – 4356, 2015
• Co-author, “Tailored Near-Infrared Contrast Agents for Image Guided Surgery,” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 58 (6), pp. 2845 – 54, 2015 
• Co-author, “A Microwave-Assisted and Environmentally Benign Approach to the Synthesis of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Pentamethine Cyanine Dyes,” Dyes and Pigments 113, 27 – 37, 2015
• Co-author, “NIR Fluorescent Small Molecules for Intraoperative Imaging,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology 7 (6), pp. 828 – 838, 2015