Jennell Bilek

Jennell C. Bilek advises clients on a wide range of intellectual property and legal matters. Jennell’s litigation experience includes pre-filing investigations, motion practice, Markman hearings, all aspects of fact and expert discovery, trials, appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Inter Partes reviews before the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her patent infringement trial experience includes the direct examination of key experts and cross-examination of fact witnesses. She has served as Markman hearing counsel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and District of Connecticut.

Notable wins:

-Finding of patent invalidity for indefiniteness after Markman hearing (D.Del.) and affirmed at Forest Labs., Inc. v. Teva Pharms. USA, Inc., 716 Fed. Appx. 987 (Fed. Cir. 2017).

-Finding of patent invalidity for anticipation and obviousness after a bench trial (D.Del.) and affirmed at Purdue Pharma L.P. v. Epic Pharma, LLC., 811 F.3d 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

Jennell’s regulatory counseling practice focuses on issues facing drug, biological, and nutraceutical clients, such as procurement, navigating the drug supply chain, labeling claims, obtaining approvals, product lifecycle management, and patent/exclusivity assessments. She also advises clients on complying with federal and state drug and pharmacy laws and regulations.

Jennell’s transactional experience includes contract drafting and negotiation and patent opinions. She combines her industry and legal knowledge to achieve favorable client outcomes. Her industry experience includes work as a community pharmacist, deputy director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, consultant to large employers when implementing pharmacy benefit manager-driven cost controls, and assisting a pharmaceutical market expert with disputes involving antikickback and misbranding statutes, False Claims Act, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Jennell is an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota and is a course director for Law in Pharmacy Practice. She serves on the Hennepin Healthcare Foundation’s Board of Directors and is currently chair of the Board. She serves on the American Society of Pharmacy Law’s Board of Directors. Jennell also volunteers for the Metropolitan Council’s CAMP Program (monitoring the water quality for one of Minnesota’s 10,000+ lakes). She is co-founder of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the firm’s member representative for Twin Cities Diversity in Practice.