Michael R. Ward

Ward’s practice as an agriculture intellectual property attorney allows him to develop and grow relationships with his clients just like the plants he helps patent.

“I work very closely with scientists and plant breeders to protect their intellectual property and develop patents for their product,” Ward said. “My practice involves representing a number of agriculture clients primarily companies that are involved in breeding new seeds like Enza Zaden, who are developing new tomato varieties.”

Ward received a Ph.D. from UC Davis in plant physiology, which he said has helped him communicate with his clients better because, “when we work with plant breeders we speak their language we understand what plant breeding is all about and we understand the technical input.”

Although Ward works with clients all over the globe, he said that he advises them on how to protect their work in the United States due to the U.S. being the biggest market. He added that his firm uses IP lawyers in Europe to help them with their practice outside the U.S.

According to Ward, he works with universities to secure patents for their research. He most recently worked on a case where he represented UC Davis involving patent infringement over strawberries. “It was a dispute in which two former university professors left the company and took strawberries with them,” Ward said. “Davis has a patent on the strawberries that the professors have taken from their breeding program to get a competitive breeding program started called California Berry Cultivars. I was involved in the original strategies and how best to protect the universities. When it came to litigation itself, that’s when trial lawyers took over.”

Ward said that his group’s expertise of science and law have been key to the group’s success. “Our team has graduates with Ph.D.s in molecular biology so we understand the technology that plant breeders use.”

— Garrett Green