Dr. Robert (Rob) Yeh advises pharmaceutical and life sciences companies and their investors on intellectual property issues that are essential to their success at all stages of their life cycle.

Rob draws on his extensive experience as a former scientist and patent litigator to guide clients on matters in:

  • Complex licensing and collaboration transactions, joint ventures, co-promotion, co-marketing, and co-commercialization deals
  • Mergers and acquisitions, spinouts, restructuring, and related ancillary agreements
  • Services, supply, manufacturing, distribution, and other commercial agreements
  • Private and public financing, including initial public offerings (IPO), follow-on offerings, royalty purchase, and debt issuances

He often represents buyers, sellers, investment banks, and other financial institutions in performing IP due diligence in connection with private and public financings, investments, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Rob is registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. Before joining Latham, he developed substantial experience in patent litigation and patent prosecution and counseling, including representing multinational and startup companies in patent matters.

Rob holds a PhD from UC Berkeley in chemistry for his work in Dr. Kenneth Raymond’s laboratory on self-assembled nanoparticle technology. He was a postdoctoral researcher at The Scripps Research Institute where he developed VLPs for drug delivery. He was a research scientist at a multinational medical diagnostics company, where he focused on bioconjugation and macromolecular imaging agents (MRI and PET).

A recognized thought leader in the life sciences IP space, Rob is a named co-inventor on a US patent and a co-author of 10 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Rob’s recent representative experiences include:

Licensing and Collaboration

  • AbbVie in its tri-specific CD38×BCMA×CD3 antibody collaboration with Ichnos Glenmark Innovation
  • AbbVie in its multi-specific T cell engager collaboration and option transaction with Xilio Therapeutics
  • Callio Therapeutics in its exclusive license for HER2-targeted ADC with Hummingbird Biosciences
  • Ideaya Biosciences in its exclusive license for Darovasertib with Servier
  • Ideaya Biosciences in its exclusive license for DLL3-targeting Topo-I-payload ADC with Hengrui
  • Sanofi in its COVID-19 vaccine collaboration with Novavax
  • Sanofi in an undisclosed drug discovery collaboration
  • Anima Biotech in its drug discovery collaboration with AbbVie
  • Parvus Therapeutics in its nanomedicine collaboration with AbbVie
  • Orbital Therapeutics in its strategic partnership with Beam Therapeutics regarding RNA therapeutics
  • Sonoma Biotherapeutics in its Treg cell collaboration with Regeneron
  • Zentalis in its ROR-1 ADC licensing and asset sale to Immunome
  • Astellas in its ADC co-development and commercialization transaction with Adaptimmune
  • Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (SOBI) in its exclusive license with Selecta Biosciences for chronic gout treatment
  • SOBI in its collaboration with Apellis Pharmaceuticals for targeted C3 therapy
  • Mineralys in its exclusive license for high blood pressure treatment with Mitsubishi-Tanabe
  • Numerous stealth startups for foundational licenses and sublicenses from universities or spinout parent companies.

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Nalu Medical in its acquisition by Boston Scientific
  • Regulus Therapeutics in its acquisition by Novartis
  • Grail in its acquisition by Illumina and subsequent separation from Illumina
  • Prometheus in its acquisition by Merck
  • Chemocentryx in its acquisition by Amgen
  • Icosavax in its acquisition by Astra Zeneca
  • LG Chem in its acquisition of AVEO Oncology
  • Assertio Holding’s acquisition of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
  • Relievant MedSystems in its acquisition by Boston Scientific
  • Nestlé in its:
    • Investment in Before Brands
    • Acquisition of a majority stake in Vital Proteins
    • Blue Bottle Coffee post-acquisition issues
  • Wonder Group in its:
    • Acquisition of Spyce kitchen automation technology from Sweetgreen
    • Divestment of food preparation and delivery assets to Freshrealm
  • Aduro Biotech in its merger with Chinook Therapeutics
  • Revolution Medicine’s acquisition of EQrx

IPOs, Financings, and Investments

  • Issuer representation in various IPOs and offerings, including for:
    • Harmony Biosciences
    • Phathom Pharmaceuticals
    • Inari Medical
    • Shoulder Innovation
    • Arcus Biosciences
    • BridgeBio Pharma
    • Boundless Bio
    • Erasca
    • Icosavax
    • Treace
    • Prometheus
    • Janux
    • Mineralys
  • Underwriter representation in various IPOs and other offerings, including for:
    • Goldman Sachs
    • JP Morgan
    • Morgan Stanley
    • Bank of America
    • SVB Leerink
    • Jefferies
    • Evercore
    • Cantor Fitzgerald
  • Blackstone in its strategic financing of Mannkind Corporation
  • BridgeBio in its royalty sale of BEYONTTRA to HealthCare Royalty and Blue Owl Capital
  • Revolution Medicine in its royalty and structured debt financing with Royalty Pharma
  • Khosla Ventures on its investment in Somite AI
  • Goldman Sachs on numerous investments in early stage pharma and biotech companies

Counseling for complex commercial agreements and transactional IP issues, including for:

  • Mereo Biopharma
  • Ligand Pharmaceuticals
  • Prometheus Laboratories
  • Evoke Pharma
  • Pathalys Pharma
  • Arcus Biosciences
  • Tyra Biosciences
  • Callio
  • Multiple stealth biotechs

Patent Experiences*

  • Patent prosecution and counseling and freedom-to-operate analysis relating to medical devices, pharmaceuticals, energy, and exercise equipment for academic institutions, startups, and Fortune 500 companies
  • GSK v. Teva in the induced infringement “skinny label” case concerning heart failure treatment in D. Del.
  • NuVasive in a patent infringement case concerning spine surgery in S.D. Cal.
  • Illumina in various patent infringement cases concerning DNA sequencing and microarray technology in S.D. Cal. and D. Del.
  • Allergan in various patent infringement cases concerning eye medication and dermal fillers in E.D. Tex. and C.D. Cal.
  • Apple v. Qualcomm in various patent infringement cases in S.D. Cal. concerning iPhones
  • Microsoft in patent infringement case in D. Utah
  • Huawei in two patent infringement cases in S.D. Cal.

*Matters handled prior to joining Latham

Thought Leadership

  • “Precedential Decisions at the PTAB: An Endangered Species?” Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, Volume 17, 2018
  • “The Public Paid for the Invention: Who Owns It?” Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 2012 Annual Review, Volume 27
  • “A Most Peculiar Application of the False Claims Act” Spring 2013 Newsletter, The Federal Bar Association, San Diego Chapter

Scientific Publications

  • “Imposition of chirality in a dinuclear triple-stranded helicate by ion pair formation.” Inorganic Chemistry 40 (10), 2001, 2216-2217
  • “Self-assembly of tetrahedral and trigonal antiprismatic clusters Fe-4(L-4)(4) and Fe-6(L-5)(6) on the basis of trigonal tris-bidentate chelators.” Chemistry-a European Journal 8 (2), 2002, 493-497
  • “Supramolecular assembly dynamics.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99 (8), 2002, 4793-4796
  • “Self-Assembly.” Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry II, Elsevier, 2003 Chapter 6.3.2
  • “Large M4L4 (M = Al(III), Ga(III), In(III), Ti(IV)) tetrahedral coordination cages: an extension of symmetry-based design.” Inorganic Chemistry 44 (18), 2005, 6228-6239
  • “Supramolecular asymmetric induction in dinuclear triple stranded helicates.” Inorganic Chemistry 45 (3), 2006, 1130-1139
  • “Virus based nanoparticle as a platform for magnetic resonance imaging contrast enhancement.” Chemical Communications 12, 2007, 1269-1271
  • “Toxicology and pharmacokinetics of wild-type cowpea mosaic virus.” Journal of Controlled Release 120 (1), 2007, 41-50
  • “Folate mediated targeting of cowpea mosaic virus to tumor cells.” Chemistry and Biology, (14), 2007, 1152-1162
  • “Design and formation of a large, supramolecular cluster using 1,1′-binaphthyl ligands.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition (47), 2008, 6062-6064

Bar Qualification

  • California
  • US Patent and Trademark Office

Education

  • JD, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2012
    Certificate of Specialization in Business Law
  • PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2004
  • AB, Princeton University, 1998
    with honors

Languages Spoken

  • English
  • Chinese (Mandarin)
Law and Justice
June 27, 2022 Recognition

Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs

Latham honored for securing a US$10.75 million damages verdict for client Philip Morris International in a patent infringement trial over vaping technology against R.J. Reynolds Vapor.