Olga Berson

Olga Berson, Ph.D. — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Berson is a life sciences patent lawyer whose practice centers on biopharmaceuticals (small and large molecules), drug delivery systems, medical devices, skincare/cosmetics, foods and nutraceuticals, and specialty chemicals, per her Thompson Coburn and Morgan Lewis firm profiles. Her work is heavily transactional — IP due diligence, freedom-to-operate and validity opinions, portfolio and landscape analysis — but she also handles Hatch-Waxman, BPCIA/biologics, and USPTO post-grant litigation. The one tracked PTAB matter (Candela Corp. v. Tankovich, IPR2023-00234) concerned a medical laser/tissue-therapy patent (U.S. Patent No. 10,675,481), consistent with her medical-device emphasis.

Side preference. Tracked appearances are evenly split — one plaintiff-side case (as pro hac vice counsel of record) and one defendant-side matter (counsel for patent owner in an IPR) — indicating she works both sides. Her firm biographies describe representing both patent owners and operating companies in litigation and USPTO proceedings; the BPCIA/Hatch-Waxman work appears to be predominantly defensive on behalf of pharmaceutical and biosimilar clients.

Firm context. Berson joined Thompson Coburn LLP as an IP partner in Los Angeles in February 2025, after more than two decades at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (partner, Santa Monica office). She holds a Ph.D. in environmental science and chemistry from Caltech (1996) and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (2003); she is admitted in California (2003) and Texas (2024), before the Federal Circuit and the USPTO (Reg. No. 55,001). No prior firms before Morgan Lewis were independently verified.

Notable cases and PTAB experience. Berson's most prominent tracked matter is Candela Corp. v. Tankovich (IPR2023-00234), where she defended patent owner Nikolai Tankovich at Morgan Lewis. The PTAB instituted review of all 28 challenged claims but issued a Final Written Decision (June 5, 2024) finding no claim unpatentable; Candela's appeal to the Federal Circuit (No. 2024-2177) was dismissed with the parties bearing their own costs on April 16, 2026 — a complete defense win. The underlying district court cases were Tankovich v. Candela Medical, Inc. (C.D. Cal., dismissed) and Tankovich v. Candela Corp. (D. Del.). Her second tracked appearance (plaintiff side, pro hac vice) could not be independently identified from public sources, so its caption and outcome are unverified. While she is not a high-volume IPR practitioner based on tracked data, her profiles cite regular work in USPTO post-grant proceedings, and the Candela result demonstrates successful PTAB defense experience.