“I take a holistic view of what a clients’ patent portfolio is doing for them to ensure that everything is working and everything has a purpose,” says James Velema. Colleagues call him an “exemplary patent lawyer and strategic advisor who supports clients with a deep understanding of both biotech businesses and their technology.” They say, “His knowledge goes beyond understanding patent law; he is able to leverage that understanding to advance his clients’ business interests, bring products to market, protect their intellectual property, and develop robust patent portfolios.”

Keenly interested in the sciences, clients rely on James to leverage their intellectual property to advance their business interests. The leader of Lathrop GPM’s biotech patent prosecution team, James understands clients’ industries, protects their ideas, examines scientific documents, applies for patent protection, and defends and enforces clients’ patents. He prides himself on providing effective, high-quality and strategic client service while always being responsive.

As a biotech patent attorney, James works with clients from start-ups and emerging biotechnology companies to large academic research institutions and Fortune 500 biotechnology corporations. He combines considerable research experience in industry and academia with a knowledge of intellectual property law to carefully assist clients with patent preparation and prosecution, due diligence, and opinion work.

With a keen understanding of all aspects of a product lifecycle, James supports biotechnology companies with their patent portfolios for:

  • Antibody technologies
  • Biologic therapies
  • Bioprocessing and purification
  • Cell therapy and immunology
  • Gene therapy technologies
  • Oligonucleotide therapeutics including RNAi/siRNA/miRNA
  • Peptide therapeutics
  • Protein purification and bioprocesses
  • Screening assays
  • Transgenic organisms
  • Vaccines

He analyzes the patent landscape relating to antibodies including antibody glycobiology, antibody Fc variants, alternative binding scaffolds, fusion proteins, recombinant enzymes, chimeric antigens and discovery platform technologies.

Throughout his career, James has been part of the Boston biotech industry – which now houses the largest biotech hub in the world. A founding partner of the firm’s Boston office, James knows what it is to be an entrepreneur. He takes pride in working with the life sciences companies. James also served as the IP manager and patent agent at a pharmaceutical company, as a research associate at a biotech company, and as an inventor who holds several U.S. patents – all of which equip him with a solid understanding of clients’ needs.

Areas of Focus

Services

Sectors

Experience

  • Managing and directing global patent estates for biologics developed by a top 10 pharmaceutical company, including constructing and prosecuting complex patent portfolios for FDA-approved antibody therapies. One of these therapeutics became one of the most successful biologic therapies globally and, by some estimates, may surpass €25 billion in annual sales by 2031.
  • Representing the RNA therapeutics institute of a top research‑oriented medical school, advising on patent strategy and prosecution for a global patent estate covering Nobel Prize‑winning RNA interference (RNAi) technology and next‑generation RNA therapeutics. Supporting the institution’s extensive licensing program, including representing the medical school in connection with licensing its foundational technologies to multiple venture‑backed start‑ups commercializing RNA‑based therapies.
  • Represented a Belgian-Dutch biotechnology company from founding to its $100 million IPO, advising on patent portfolio and proprietary technologies. Supported Phase 3 development of antibody therapeutics for autoimmune diseases and cancer, including obtaining patents for novel immune checkpoint therapies. The company is now the most successful biotech company in Europe.
  • Representing a Swiss biotech pioneering a novel ADC-linker technology for targeted cancer therapy, including supporting the client in a $24 million financing round and strategic investment by a venture capital firm. Prosecuting patents for the client’s proprietary platform, which underpinned a research collaboration with a Japanese pharmaceutical company and led to an acquisition deal worth up to $1.14 billion.
  • Representing a leading biotech company pioneering a novel approach to discovering and developing agonist antibodies through its proprietary platform. Represented the company from formation through seed funding and its $128 million Series A and $125 million Series B rounds.
  • Assisting a leading, New York City-based biotech that focuses on inventing life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Work includes patent prosecution and portfolio management across several antibody technologies, including antibody products responsible for $16.6 billion in global net sales in 2024.
  • Representing a publicly traded, Dutch-Swedish, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative cancer relapse vaccines. Providing ongoing counsel on worldwide portfolio strategy, licensing and collaborative arrangements related to cancer immunotherapy and dendritic cell vaccine technologies.
  • Represented a cell therapy company founded by a pioneering CAR‑T scientist from a Philadelphia‑based medical school, supporting the client from academic spin‑out through a $135 million Series A financing. Crafted and executed a comprehensive patent strategy and advised on licensing arrangements related to CAR‑T and other T‑cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumor cancers. The company would later be acquired by one of the world’s largest cell therapy companies in a deal worth up to $1.3 billion.
  • Representing an emerging Cambridge‑based biotechnology company developing novel immuno‑oncology therapeutics, advising on sophisticated IP due diligence in connection with a high‑stakes strategic review. Guiding the client through complex patent portfolio analysis and risk‑assessment issues central to life sciences transactions, collaborations and long‑term platform development.
  • Represented a global biopharmaceutical company with a flagship blockbuster biologic therapy, providing counsel across patent prosecution, opinion work and comprehensive portfolio management. Advised on freedom‑to‑operate, clearance and non‑infringement analyses related to one of the world’s most commercially successful pharmaceutical products, which peaked at more than $21 billion in annual sales.
  • Representing a Belgian‑Dutch biotechnology company pioneering microbiome‑based health products. Successfully represented the company and its licensors in PTAB interference proceedings, securing a favorable decision establishing priority for patent rights covering oral probiotic treatments for metabolic disorders such as obesity. Continuing to advise the company following its acquisition and now representing it as part of a global food enterprise with a significant international footprint.

Credentials

Education

  • Suffolk University Law School (J.D., cum laude)
    • Dean’s List
  • Tufts University (M.S., Biology/Biotechnology)
  • Queen's University (B.Sc., Biology (Honours Program))

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Recognitions

  • LexDana, "Top 10 Attorneys in Biotech Patent Prosecution," 2026
  • Selected among The Best Lawyers in America©, 2023-2026
  • Chambers USA, Massachusetts Intellectual Property, 2015-2016, 2025
  • Selected among Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "IP Stars - Patent Star," 2022-2025
  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, "Go To Intellectual Property Lawyer," 2023
  • Selected for Massachusetts Super Lawyers "Rising Stars," 2013-2019
  • Selected among the Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, 2016
  • Recipient, Postgraduate A Scholarship from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, 1999

Presentations

  • Panelist, "Obviousness-Type Double Patenting: Practical Pointers Post-In re Cellect," The Federal Circuit Bar Association 2024 Boston Regional Program, April 5, 2024
  • Panelist, "A Tactical Tool-Kit for Antibody and Epitope Claims: The Latest Strategies for Successfully Claiming Antibody Patents and Epitopes in Europe and the U.S.," C5 Life Sciences IP Summit, October 18, 2022
  • Moderator, "Clinical Trials: Successes & Failures of Nucleic Acid Drugs Discovery & Development," UMASS Medical School RNA Therapeutics Institute, RNA Therapeutics Conference, June 29, 2018
  • Speaker, "CRISPR vs. RNAi - A Guide to Patenting Small RNAs," UMASS Medical School RNA Therapeutics Institute, RNA Therapeutics Conference, June 29, 2018
  • Speaker, "Patenting of Antibodies," presented to the NRC Biotechnology Research Institute, Montreal, Canada, August 30, 2010
  • Speaker, "An Overview of the Antibody Glycosylation Landscape and Patent Strategies," presented to the NRC Institute for Biological Sciences, Ottawa, Canada, May 27, 2010
  • Speaker, "How Secure is your IP?" at TiE Ottawa, Canada Meeting, June 24, 2008

Publications

  • Chapter Author, "Biological Polymers for use in Tissue Engineering," in Advances in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, eds. Kaplan et al., 102:187-238. (2006)

Professional Activities

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Boston Bar Association
  • Boston Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Massachusetts Bar Association