Drawing upon her experience as a scientist, a lawyer and a business owner, Dr. Gorman has witnessed first-hand the challenges companies face when the demands of the day-to-day operations keep them from fully leveraging their intellectual property. She created Gorman IP Law with the express purpose of helping innovators achieve the vision at the foundation of their businesses.

Dr. Gorman received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University where she pursued her interest in botany by conducting some of the early molecular biology experimental research on gene organization in pine trees. Her post-doctoral research involved studying chromatin effects on gene expression in yeast at The University of Texas, Southwest Medical Center at Dallas and, while holding a joint appointment at UC Berkeley and the USDA Plant Gene Expression Center, identifying the position of male sterile genes in tomatoes by integrating RFLP, morphological and genetic maps. Dr. Gorman was then employed by Chiron Corporation and worked on several projects directed towards human disease, such as obesity.

In 1999, Dr. Gorman transitioned from bench science to patent law and worked first as a technical advisor and then as a patent agent for Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch (BSKB) while attending law school. After obtaining a Juris Doctor degree (cum laude), she continued with BSKB and became a partner with that firm.

Her experience includes all aspects of patent prosecution, including prosecution of domestic and international patent applications, patent interferences, reexaminations, and patent appeals. She also has significant experience in counseling on patent validity and infringement issues and handling worldwide patent portfolios. Dr. Gorman has particular technical expertise in the fields of biotechnology (including plant biotechnology), biofuels and biofuel feedstocks, biochemistry, medicine and pharmaceuticals.

In the course of managing her clients’ portfolios, Dr. Gorman has developed close relationships to patent  attorneys in Asia, Europe, and South America, particularly in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, and Brazil.