Stephen H. Hall

As a member of the Life Sciences Industry team, Stephen Hall's practice focuses on intellectual property and technology issues. Stephen has an active trial practice litigating patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims for biotech clients in state and federal courts. He also works closely with established and emerging life sciences companies in preparing and negotiating various technology contracts and license agreements. Stephen also has an active patent and trademark prosecution practice, assisting life sciences clients in developing, protecting, managing, and exploiting their intellectual property.

Stephen is also actively involved with a variety of entrepreneur organizations, acting as an advisor and mentor to early stage startups. This involvement keeps him informed of the issues and challenges that startups face, and helps him guide those business as they grow and mature

His practice is focused in three primary areas:

Litigation Practice

Stephen has handled a wide variety of biotech patent infringement matters, including cases involving medical devices, synthetic vectors, and pharmaceuticals. He has also represented life sciences clients in various copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation cases.

Transactional Practice

Stephen has an active transactional practice where he counsels life sciences clients in the use, acquisition, development, and licensing of intellectual property rights. His transactional practice includes:

• Preparation and negotiation of license agreements, including patent licenses
• Preparation and negotiation of joint research, development, and collaboration agreements
• Preparation and negotiation of life sciences and healthcare software, both for vendors and users
• Conducting intellectual property audits to identify, protect, and commercialize valuable IP

Prosecution Practice

Stephen frequently prosecutes patent and trademark applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In addition to the various patents and trademarks Stephen has successfully prosecuted, his practice also includes:

• Preparing, advising, and counseling clients and businesses in developing intellectual property portfolios
• Preparing patentability opinions advising clients and businesses of the potential scope of patent protection available for their ideas, inventions, and products.
• Preparing infringement opinions and validity opinions advising clients on the potential liability, level of protection, or enforceability associated with issued patents.
• Conducting inter partes review, post-grant review, and covered business method review before the USPTO.

Stephen is a graduate of The Alabama School of Law and received his engineering degree from Auburn University. A registered patent attorney, Stephen is admitted to practice before the United States Patents and Trademark Office, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. District Court (Northern District of Alabama), and all Alabama state courts.