Elizabeth M. Flanagan

I'll research this attorney's background and the tracked litigation.

Good material. Let me verify a few more specifics: her prior firm tenure, PTAB matters, the separate Cytek action, and bar/admission details.

Elizabeth M. Flanagan ("Betsy" Flanagan) — Cooley LLP, Minneapolis

Specialty / focus. Flanagan's practice is concentrated in life sciences patent litigation. Her firm bio describes a docket spanning new chemical entities, biologics, formulations, medical devices and diagnostics, with heavy emphasis on Hatch-Waxman/ANDA cases and BPCIA-style competitor disputes, plus method-of-treatment and section viii "carve-out" work. Her bench science background is chemistry (BA, Cornell; several years at Merck before law school), and she has described her practice as covering pharma, biotech, diagnostics and medical devices, along with related trade secret and contract disputes. The tracked litigation fits that profile: the Beckman Coulter/Cytek matters involve spectral flow cytometry instrumentation — optical systems, wavelength-division multiplexing, filters and collimating optics — i.e., life sciences tools rather than Wi-Fi, software or mechanical arts. Note the name is shared with other attorneys; the Cooley partner is the relevant person, distinct from an Elizabeth C. Flanagan (NJ litigator) and an Elizabeth Cooley (WA).

Side preference. She works both sides of the "v." but skews toward defending operating companies, consistent with the tracked counts (3 defendant-side, 1 plaintiff-side). All four tracked appearances are Cooley matters in the Beckman Coulter ↔ Cytek Biosciences dispute, where she appeared for Cytek as defendant/counterclaimant and was identified as lead counsel in the Delaware case. Her broader practice is not an NPE/PAE practice — clients are operating pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics companies. Her bio and public statements describe representing innovators both in enforcing patents (brand-side Hatch-Waxman and competitor suits) and in defending infringement allegations, so a "both sides, defense-leaning, operating-company clients" characterization is the accurate one.

Firm context. Partner at Cooley LLP, resident in the Minneapolis office (30 S. 9th St.). She joined Cooley in mid-2023 as part of a three-partner life sciences IP litigation group recruited from Fish & Richardson, where she spent roughly the first 15 years of her career and served as managing principal of the firm's Twin Cities/Minneapolis office (named to that role in 2021). Bar admissions listed as Minnesota and Delaware, with court admissions to the District of Minnesota, District of Delaware and the Federal Circuit. Education: JD, University of Minnesota Law School (magna cum laude; lead managing editor, Minnesota Law Review); BA in chemistry, Cornell.

Notable matters and outcomes. The most prominent tracked matter is Beckman Coulter, Inc. v. Cytek Biosciences, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-00945 (D. Del., Judge Connolly), an August 2024 suit asserting flow cytometry patents (e.g., U.S. Patents 10,330,582; 11,703,443; 12,174,107) against Cytek's Aurora products; Flanagan appeared for Cytek, including at fact depositions. In an August 2026 jury verdict, Cytek prevailed on three of four asserted claims (noninfringement and invalidity), while the jury found infringement of one claim under the doctrine of equivalents and awarded roughly $56 million in past damages ($20 million lost profits plus about $36 million in royalties); Cytek announced it would seek post-trial relief and potentially a Federal Circuit appeal. Reported firm-bio results predating Cooley include trial work for Exela Pharma Sciences in Exela Pharma Sciences LLC v. Eton Pharmaceuticals (D. Del.) (district court finding of infringement and no invalidity, with institution denied on three of four PTAB post-grant review petitions) and lead counsel in the Xadago (safinamide) Hatch-Waxman litigation. She has also been publicly identified as representing Moderna in patent litigation, and appears among counsel in Insulet Corp. v. EOFlow Co. (Fed. Cir.). Law360's docket profile shows additional ANDA matters (e.g., Mirum Pharmaceuticals v. Sandoz), reinforcing the brand-side Hatch-Waxman caseload.

PTAB / IPR experience. She has PTAB experience but the available records do not show her as a routine first-chair petitioner's counsel in IPR/PGR proceedings. Verified appearances include back-up counsel for patent owner Quanterix Corp. in a 2025 post-grant proceeding (Cooley colleague Orion Armon as lead), and institution-stage PGR defense wins in the Exela matter. A related Cytek-filed PGR against a Beckman Coulter flow cytometry patent (PGR2025-00084) exists, though I could not confirm her individual role on that petition from the sources reviewed.

Sourcing note: firm bio, Law360 docket profile, Delaware docket/CourtListener filings, and contemporaneous news coverage of the August 2026 verdict. Where a detail rests only on the firm's own descriptions (e.g., the Moderna engagement, which firm materials state but no public docket confirms), it is flagged as such.