He has also worked in the medical device area, enforcing patents for St Jude Medical on vascular closure devices.
Iancu represented Ariosa Diagnostics in a case against Sequenom and succeeded in invalidating a genetic testing patent. The Sequenom decision was not popular among biotech companies and the lawyers who represent them.
The Irell & Manella firm once defended Trump, along with NBC Universal and Mark Burnett Productions, against a claim of copyright infringement related to The Apprentice. There’s no indication Iancu was involved in that case.
Iancu earned his JD, along with an MS in mechanical engineering and a BS in aerospace engineering, from UCLA. He worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft before attending law school.
Handling the business of a large and successful law firm like Irell & Manella means that Iancu is no slouch when it comes to management skills. And his varied set of clients could help him avoid the tug of war that often pops up between tech and pharma over how to manage the patent system.
If confirmed by the Senate, Iancu will replace Michelle Lee, the outgoing USPTO director who left shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Lee, a former Google attorney, was a favorite of the tech sector.