Mika Reiner Mayer

Reiner Mayer has long been a star in Morrison & Foerster's medical device group, frequently using her intellectual property expertise to help clients achieve their goals.

She helped Oculeve, a medical device company focused on developing new treatments for eye disease, establish a strong IP portfolio.

Mayer later advised the company on an agreement in which Allergan acquired Oculeve last year for $125 million upfront, besides commercialization milestone payments.

"The deal was important, especially in the med-tech community, because it showed that companies with great products, great teams, and strong IP protection can still exit in an otherwise slow med-tech acquisition environment," Mayer said.

Mayer leads Morrison & Foerster's representation of Gilead Sciences on its oncology and HIV portfolios. Gilead chose Mayer and her team for the work because of Mayer's existing relationship with and handling of their oncology patents.

In 2015, medical device company Freedom Innovations transferred to Morrison & Foerster all of its patent counseling and strategy work, which Mayer manages.

Mayer said she believes her approach to advising companies about their IP has attracted new clients like Freedom. She aims to be proactive and play a key strategic role in helping companies develop their patent portfolios.

"A patent portfolio isn't just about numbers," Mayer said. "It's about making sure the company has meaningful protection for their most commercially significant products."

Mayer also co-founded the firm's Venture Intellectual Property practice group, which is devoted to performing investor-side IP due diligence.

- Lyle Moran