“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

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

  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, "Go To Intellectual Property Lawyer," 2023
  • Selected among The Best Lawyers in America©, 2023-2025
  • Selected among Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "IP Stars - Patent Star," 2022-2024
  • Selected among the Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, 2016
  • Chambers USA, Massachusetts Intellectual Property, 2015-2016
  • Selected for Massachusetts Super Lawyers "Rising Stars," 2013-2019
  • 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