Jennifer R. Andrew’s unique background and experience informs her skills as a patent attorney focusing her practice on patent prosecution and preparation, IP licensing, and IP portfolio management. She also counsels clients on freedom-to-operate and invalidity opinions and patent evaluations.

Jennifer has served clients ranging in size from startups to multinational corporations, working with technologies and industries including these:

  • Food chemistry
  • Food processing
  • Packaging
  • Consumer products
  • Medical devices
  • Communication technologies
  • Inventory management
  • Autonomous vehicles
  • Product distribution
  • HVAC systems
  • Sensor technologies
  • Plant patents
  • Natural products
  • Polymers
  • Diagnostics
  • Imaging technologies
  • Drug delivery
  • Automotive technologies

Jennifer also has extensive experience in invention harvesting and working directly with inventors to develop early-stage disclosures into patentable inventions.

In her prior position as patent attorney at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jennifer managed outside counsel regarding IP matters, among other responsibilities, experience that allows her to view her work from the client’s perspective to better serve their needs. During her tenure at UIC, Jennifer also negotiated, drafted, and reviewed license, material transfer, nondisclosure, and strategic partnership agreements; managed a large IP portfolio of early-stage biomedical, chemical, and mechanical technologies; directed patent prosecution strategies; and drafted patent applications.

Jennifer began her legal career at a midsized IP law firm based in Virginia, where she worked first as a patent agent and summer associate and then as a patent attorney, focusing primarily on serving clients engaged in the mechanical and chemical arts. There she also gained experience researching and assisting with complex trademark, copyright, and litigation issues.

Before earning her J.D., Jennifer spent nearly a decade as a forensic DNA scientist for the Michigan State Police. Her work there placed her squarely at the intersection of science and the law, where she honed highly technical skills such as those used in the analysis and interpretation of DNA evidence, along with the sophisticated communication skills needed to present complex scientific concepts in court as an expert witness and to train prosecutors and law enforcement officers.

Jennifer leverages the keen attention to detail, analytical problem-solving skills, and adept negotiation style she has developed over the years to benefit her clients as she works with them to achieve their business goals.

Jennifer is the Chair of Fitch Even’s Recruiting and Employment Committee.

  • Prepares and prosecutes foreign and domestic patent applications directed to food products, processing, and packaging technologies for a global food company.
  • Prepares patent applications directed to consumer products and inventory systems for a multinational retail company.
  • Performs freedom-to-operate (FTO) and invalidity analyses for a global food company.
  • Conducts foreign patent prosecution with various worldwide patent professionals for U.S.-based clientele.
  • Advised emerging startups on patent prosecution strategies and due diligence matters.
  • Managed an extensive IP portfolio relating to a variety of early-stage technologies for a university.
  • Successfully negotiated and licensed a key technology to an emerging biotech company.
  • Prepared and prosecuted domestic patent applications directed to key technologies for a multinational automotive corporation.

Publications

  • “Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARS, Oh My! – Applying the Precautionary Principle to Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceuticals Under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement,” Mich. St. L. Rev., 2011:405-444.
  • Brouillette, J.A., Andrew, J.R., and Venta, P.J., “Estimate of Nucleotide Diversity in Dogs with a Pool-and-Sequence Method,” Mammalian Genome, vol. 11, Dec. 2000: 1079-86.
  • Association of University Technology Managers
  • Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Oakland County Bar Association
  • State Bar of Michigan
    • Intellectual Property Law Section

  • J.D., Michigan State University College of Law, 2011, summa cum laude
  • B.S., Microbiology, Michigan State University, 2000

  • Illinois
  • Michigan
  • Virginia
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office