Christine L. Ranney

Christine L. Ranney — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus. Ranney is a life-sciences and pharmaceutical patent litigator with a chemical-engineering background (B.S.E., Princeton; former Merck & Co. analyst). Her practice centers on Hatch-Waxman/ANDA disputes, biologics, methods-of-treatment, and diagnostics, and extends to software, telecommunications, and consumer-goods patent cases, plus appellate work and trade-secret/ITC matters. All five of her tracked appearances are on the plaintiff side for Novartis Pharmaceuticals enforcing GILENYA® (fingolimod) patents against generic filers (Accord, Handa, HEC Pharm), in Delaware and N.D. Cal. That tracked snapshot, however, understates a broader practice that is heavily defense-oriented: per Gibson Dunn's bio, she has defended Sun Pharma, Cisco, EMD Serono/Pfizer, Slack, Uber, and Fitbit. She works both sides but consistently for operating companies (branded pharma enforcing patents, and accused infringers), not NPEs/PAEs.

Firm context and notable results. Ranney is a partner in Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's Denver office (Intellectual Property Practice Group), where she joined after clerking for Judge Pauline Newman on the Federal Circuit (2013–2015). Highlights: co-led trial/appellate work in the GILENYA Hatch-Waxman matters (favorable Delaware bench ruling affirmed by the Federal Circuit); represented Sun Pharma in Incyte Corp. v. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, No. 25-1162, where the Federal Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction blocking the Leqselvi (deuruxolitinib) launch (April 2025 order; May 2025 precedential opinion); and was on the Gibson Dunn team that secured a jury verdict invalidating Biogen's patent in the Biogen v. EMD Serono/Pfizer case seeking over $5.4 billion — described by the firm as one of the largest defense victories in patent litigation history. She also won summary judgment of non-infringement for Cisco against Lionra (E.D. Tex.) and an early § 101 dismissal for Slack.

PTAB/IPR and credentials. Ranney appears regularly in IPR/PGR proceedings, often parallel to district court litigation — e.g., IPR2022-00886 (Novartis v. Shilpa Pharma, pro hac vice) and the Intervet/Merck Animal Health IPRs (IPR2018-01788/-01789, IPR2019-00374/-00381) — and her firm bio cites wins before the PTAB. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from NYU Law (2013) and is admitted in California and Colorado and before the Federal Circuit.