Bryan Skelton

Bryan L. Skelton, Ph.D. — Alston & Bird LLP (Raleigh / Research Triangle, NC)

Focus areas. Skelton is a patent prosecution, counseling and licensing lawyer rather than a first-chair trial litigator. His practice centers on pharmaceuticals and life sciences — small molecule compounds, formulations and delivery, immunology (particularly vaccines and antibodies), and polymers and composite materials — with substantial work on patent procurement, reexamination/post-grant strategy, IP valuation and licensing, validity/non-infringement/freedom-to-operate opinions, and IP due diligence in acquisitions and financings. Firm and directory profiles consistently describe litigation as a secondary part of his practice for pharma and life sciences clients. Notably, the one tracked district court appearance is outside that core technology profile: Omni MedSci, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. et al., a wearable optical/physiological-sensor assertion (LED/detector wearable devices, pulse rate and blood flow measurement) brought by Omni MedSci against Samsung, Fossil, Oura and OnePlus in E.D. Tex.

Side preference. The tracked data reflect a purely defense-side posture — 0 plaintiff-side and 1 defendant-side appearance, in the Omni MedSci matter, where he is recorded as local counsel. That is consistent with a practice built around defending and managing the portfolios of operating pharmaceutical and life sciences companies rather than prosecuting cases for NPEs/PAEs. Given the single tracked data point, no broader pattern of side preference should be inferred from the litigation record alone.

Firm context. Alston & Bird is the only firm associated with him in the available records; PTAB filings list him under Alston & Bird (Durham/Research Triangle and Raleigh addresses) from at least 2015 through the present, and no prior firm history was found. He is a partner in the firm's Patent Prosecution, Counseling & Review and Intellectual Property Litigation groups. He is registered with the USPTO (Reg. No. 50,893) and admitted in North Carolina and Maryland; he holds a J.D. from George Washington University (2006), a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Georgia (2000), and a B.A. from the University of West Georgia (1992).

Notable matters and rankings (as sourced). Firm and IAM profiles credit him with securing patent protection for an Exela Pharma Sciences flagship product, with several patents now Orange Book–listed and defended through post-grant proceedings and district court litigation, and with defending four patents in reexamination covering products with reported annual sales exceeding $1 billion. He is also credited with representing Advaxis Inc. in a clinical collaboration and licensing deal with Amgen Inc. (reported $65M upfront/equity plus up to $475M in milestones). He has been listed in IAM Patent 1000 (North Carolina; 2026 edition "Prosecution – Recommended" and "Transactions – Recommended") and in Best Lawyers (Patent Law; Biotechnology and Life Sciences) since 2024, and was named a BTI Consulting "Client Service All-Star" in 2025.

PTAB / IPR experience. He does appear in PTAB proceedings, primarily in the pharma space: public PTAB filings list him as counsel of record on petitions and related filings on behalf of pharmaceutical petitioners around 2015–2016 (including the InnoPharma/Lupin–Senju IPR joinder proceedings and a petition in which Alston & Bird attorneys Malik, Skelton, Soderstrom and Abe appeared). This appears to be occasional, portfolio-driven PTAB work rather than a high-volume IPR practice. The IPR/PGR petitions filed against Omni MedSci in 2025 (IPR2025-01250 through -01254; PGR2025-00063/-00064) name other firms as counsel, not Alston & Bird.

Verification note. I could not independently confirm Alston & Bird's appearance on the Omni MedSci v. Samsung docket (2:24-cv-01070-JRG-RSP, E.D. Tex.) in the public docket and filing excerpts reviewed; the firm's client or role in that case — and hence the "local counsel" designation — rests on the tracked case list supplied. Local counsel in E.D. Tex. is also atypical for an Alston & Bird Raleigh-based practice, so that entry may warrant a docket-level check before it is relied on.