Whitney Meier Howard

Whitney Meier Howard is a patent litigator with a focus on pharmaceutical and biotechnology matters, currently a Partner at Venable LLP. Her practice primarily involves representing plaintiffs in patent assertion cases. She counsels clients in obtaining and asserting patents through trial and appeal, and provides strategic advice on patent portfolios and freedom-to-operate issues.

Ms. Howard's experience spans a range of technologies and therapeutic areas, including chemotherapies, bisphosphonates, antipsychotics, antihypertensives, hormone-receptor antagonists, therapies for autoimmune disease, drug formulation, drug metabolism, gene therapy, genetically modified mice, and antibody manufacturing. She has handled complex Hatch-Waxman litigations for major pharmaceutical companies. Her tracked appearances include representing plaintiffs in Astellas Pharma Inc. et al. v. Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Astellas Pharma Inc. et al. v. Haimen Pharma Inc. et al., where she was listed as of counsel. She has also represented Sanofi in Hatch-Waxman litigations, appeals, and Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) concerning its Jevtana® product, and Novartis in Hatch-Waxman litigations for its Entresto® product.

Ms. Howard regularly appears before federal district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). She has courtroom experience taking fact and expert witnesses and arguing dispositive motions in district court. Her engagement with PTAB matters is further evidenced by her co-authorship of an article on Federal Circuit IPR estoppel rulings and participation in panels discussing IPR strategy.

Ms. Howard earned her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011 and her B.S. in Biochemistry with high distinction from the University of Virginia in 2008. She is admitted to practice in New York and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.