Jihong Lou represents innovative pharmaceutical companies in patent litigation involving small-molecule drugs, including cases arising under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Drawing from her years of experience as a former Federal Circuit law clerk, a patent agent, and a medicinal chemist and drug discovery project leader, Jihong applies her in-depth technical and legal experience in advising clients on a wide variety of intellectual property issues.
Jihong's practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and appeal, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. She also represents clients in post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In addition to patent litigation and appeal, Jihong advises clients regarding patentability, validity, infringement, and freedom-to-operate issues and in due diligence evaluations. She also maintains an active pro bono practice. Most recently, she successfully represented a veteran in an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Prior to law school, Jihong was a project leader and associate research fellow in medicinal chemistry at Pfizer, where she worked on drug discovery projects in oncology, diabetes, ophthalmology, and viral disease therapeutic areas. In 2008, she embarked on a career in law by attending law school in the evenings while working as a patent agent at Jones Day. From 2013 to 2017, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Experience
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
AstraZeneca AB, et al. v. Torrent Pharma Inc., et al., No. 3:15-cv-03375 (D.N.J.) (consolidated). Represented a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman litigation filed against several generic drug companies relating to a drug for treating COPD.
Allergan, Inc. v. Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., et al., No. 1:17-cv-00663 (D. Del.) (consolidated). Represented a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman litigation relating to a topical treatment of acne.
Celgene Corp. v. Sandoz Inc., et al., No. 3:18-cv-11026 (D.N.J.) (consolidated). Represented a leading pharmaceutical company in Hatch-Waxman litigation filed against several generic drug companies relating to a drug indicated for treating psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Bridgestone Brands, LLC, et al. v. Balkrishna Industries, Ltd., et al., No. 3:17-cv-00771 (M.D. Tenn.). Represented BKT Tires and Balkrishna Industries, Ltd. in patent and trademark litigation relating to off-the-road tires.
Balkrishna Industries, Ltd., et al. v. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, No. IPR2018-00281 (P.T.A.B.). Represented BKT Tires and Balkrishna Industries, Ltd. in petitioning for inter partes review of a patent directed to off-the-road tires.
Additional Publications
- 2011
Identification of Novel Pyrrolopyrazoles as Protein Kinase C beta II Inhibitors, coauthor, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 21(1), 584 - 2009
Pyridones as Glucokinase Activators: Identification of a Unique Metabolic Liability of the 4-Sulfonyl-2-Pyridone Heterocycle, coauthor, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 19(12), 3247
Publications Prior to Jones Day
2008
Steady-State and Pre-Steady-State Kinetic Evaluation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) 3CLpro Cysteine Protease: Development of an Ion-Pair Model for Catalysis, coauthor, Biochemistry, 47(8), 2617
2000
The Binding of Cocaine to Cyclodextrins, coauthor, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 10(17), 1931
2000
Synthetic Retinals: Convenient Probes of Rhodopsin and Visual Transduction Process, coauthor, Methods in Enzymology, 315, 219
1999
Enantioselective Binding of an 11-cis-Locked Cyclopropyl Retinal. The Conformation of Retinal in Bovine Rhodopsin, coauthor, Organic Letters, 1(1), 51
1999
Coherent Anti-Stokes Vibrational Raman Spectra of Artificial Rhodopsin Pigments Containing Ring Structures Blocking 11-cis Isomerization, coauthor, Journal of Molecular Structure, 478(1-3), 107
1998
Vibrational Spectroscopy of a Picosecond, Structurally Restricted Intermediate Containing a 7-Membered Ring in the Room Temperature Photo-Reaction of an Artificial Rhodopsin, coauthor, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 120(15), 3739
1998
Solving Challenging Bioorganic Problems by Exciton Coupled CD, coauthor, Pure & Applied Chemistry, 70(2), 377
1997
Absolute Sense of Twist of the C-12/13 Bond of the Retinal Chromophore in Bovine Rhodopsin Based on Coupled CD of 11,12-Dihydroretinal Analogs, coauthor, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 36(19), 2089
1997
Partial Agonist Activity of 11-cis-Retinal in Rhodopsin Mutants, coauthor, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 272(37), 23081
- University of San Diego (J.D. summa cum laude 2012, with a concentration in intellectual property; Valedictorian Award; Order of the Coif; San Diego Law Review); Columbia University (Ph.D. in Chemistry 1998); University of Science and Technology of China (B.S. in Chemistry 1993)
- District of Columbia, California, Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit (2013-2017)
- Mandarin