Edward R. Reines

Reines’ work gives him a front row seat to view the latest and most groundbreaking advancements in medical science. Currently, he’s representing Guardant Health Inc., a leader in the field of liquid biopsies.

“I love these contemporary genetics patents because the inventions are so profound,” Reines gushed, excitedly explaining that his client’s developments allow doctors to take DNA samples from blood rather than tissue. “The practice is blossoming to say the least, these technologies are so interesting.”

While his practice is broad, many of his recent cases have involved biotech work, a trend he attributes to the increasing commercial importance of the technology.

Reines is hot off an appellate win for a Stanford University bioengineering professor who developed a prenatal diagnostic test for Down and Turner syndromes. The process gathers fetal DNA from the mother’s blood, rather than through amniocentesis. He said it might be the win he’s most proud of this year.

The dispute concerned whether Stanford’s Dr. Stephen Quake had provided appropriate written descriptions of his work to receive patent protection. When a Chinese doctor challenged Quake’s patent and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found that his submissions were insufficient, Reines was able to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the board had erred, securing a reversal for Stanford and Quake. Stanford Univ. v. The Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, 2015-2011 (Fed. Cir., June 27, 2017).

For “style points,” Reines is most proud of his work for biomedical giant Illumina Inc., which has developed a groundbreaking DNA sequencer.

In his order granting preliminary injunction baring Illumina’s rival Qiagen N.V. from selling a competing sequencer in the United States, District Judge William Alsup wrote, “This is a rare and powerful case for the unusual remedy of a preliminary injunction.” Illumina et al. v. Qiagen N.V. et al., CV16-02788 (N.D. Cal., filed May 24, 2016).

When Reines isn’t in court, he’s helping train the next batch of intellectual litigators, teaching courses on the subject at Berkeley and Stanford. He’s currently prepping to teach his next batch of students in the fall about, among other things, changes in venue proceedings in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in T.C. Heartland.

“It’s an innate enjoyment in seeing students and watching them grow through the semesters,” he said.

— Nicolas Sonnenburg