Jeffrey S. Ward

Jeffrey S. Ward is a highly experienced patent litigation attorney, currently a partner in the Intellectual Property practice group at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP. His practice encompasses patent litigation and strategic counseling across diverse technology areas, including pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, electrical engineering, agricultural, and food products. A significant portion of his work involves advising pharmaceutical clients on pre-initiation evaluation, patent challenge, and defense strategies, particularly in cases arising under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Ward represents both patent owners and challengers, demonstrating a balanced approach to patent disputes. His experience includes acting as lead counsel for RFCyber Corp., a patent owner, in RFCyber Corp. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al., a case involving a contactless payment method via Samsung Pay. He has also successfully defended a pharmaceutical company at trial against alleged patent infringement related to lansoprazole ODT and prevailed after trial in Hatch-Waxman litigation concerning linagliptin tablets. Additionally, he served as co-lead counsel in a patent infringement suit regarding an oral testosterone product, where a summary judgment of invalidity for lack of written description was granted.

With over four decades of experience, Ward has served as lead counsel in both bench and jury trials and possesses extensive experience in patent appeals, including arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. While his firm's patent litigation team handles post-grant proceedings before the PTAB, his profile emphasizes his broad federal litigation and appellate experience. Prior to joining Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg in 2022, he was a partner at Green, Griffith & Borg-Breen, and Merchant & Gould.

Ward earned his J.D. in 1984 from the University of Illinois College of Law and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and Wisconsin, before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Supreme Court, and several U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Federal Circuit.