Katherine A. Helm, Ph.D.

Katherine A. ("Kassie") Helm, Ph.D., is a first-chair counsel who represents leading innovator pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in patent litigation and patent-adjacent litigation matters. Her doctorate in neuroscience allows her to leverage her scientific background alongside her legal acumen to develop and execute winning positions for life sciences companies in all phases of district court litigation and Federal Circuit and other circuit court appeals, and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She has prevailed in high-stakes cases representing life sciences companies as both plaintiff and defendant in patent infringement actions and as both petitioner and patent owner in Post Grant Reviews (PGRs) and Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) at the PTAB, as well as in interferences and appeals. Patent-adjacent matters are also a significant part of her practice which includes antitrust litigations and related complex commercial disputes in federal and state courts involving IP assets, with breach of contract claims, state law claims involving unjust enrichment and licensing disputes with various joint ventures and drug development collaborations and partnerships. Dr. Helm is fluent in French and frequently involved in patent disputes with multijurisdictional aspects, including international arbitrations and post-issuance patent proceedings around the globe. She regularly plays a leading role in coordinated global patent disputes involving co-pending ex-U.S. proceedings involving biologic therapeutics in the European national courts as well as in opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO) and on appeal. Dr. Helm and her team have also been successful in utilizing large-scale U.S. discovery mechanisms under 28 USC § 1782 to assist with foreign patent proceedings.

In 2024, Dr. Helm was named a leading practitioner by Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders USA, listed as a Recommended Individual for Patent Litigation in Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences, and named a Future Star by Benchmark Litigation. She was named among Managing Intellectual Property’s Top 250 Women in IP for the second consecutive year, as well as named a 2024 patent “IP STAR” by the same publication.

She has been recognized by numerous publications for her expertise, including by IAM Patent 1000 for New York Litigation, where, in 2024, she was described as “a smart choice for pharmaceutical and medical research clients”, as well as “a seasoned trial attorney familiar with a variety of arenas, including the PTAB and the district court of Delaware.” In 2023, IAM described Dr. Helm as someone who “excels in biologics litigation and is a go-to for some of the industry’s major players to handle their most important disputes.” Previously, in 2022, she was noted by IAM as the “fulcrum” around which Dechert’s Patent Litigation group turns, “who marshals the ensemble’s resources very effectively and gets difficult jobs done for her clients.” In 2021, she was praised by the same publication for being “gifted at handling global lawsuits” and in “cases with concurrent patent office proceedings” and “An absolute dynamo who makes significant contributions both to the Dechert practice and to the wider IP community, she never fails to impress.”

In 2023, Dr. Helm was the sole female named a Global Elite Thought Leader for Patent Litigation, individuals who receive the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market sources, across North America by Who’s Who Legal: Life Sciences. She was highlighted for her ability to “assess and define a global strategy and suggest winning tactics.” Dr. Helm was highly commended by the Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023 in the “Innovation in Healthcare & Life Sciences” category for her work on behalf of Eli Lilly & Co. in a transatlantic patent dispute with Novartis. In 2022 and 2021, Dr. Helm was appointed to Law360’s Life Sciences Editorial Board. She has also been listed for Patent Litigation and named a Next Generation lawyer for Life Sciences by The Legal 500 US (2021-2024), named a Global Leader in 2021 in life sciences patent litigation by Who’s Who Legal, an Intellectual Property Trailblazer in 2020 by the National Law Journal; the “Best in Patents” in the U.S. by Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Awards 2020; a leading female lawyer who breaks barriers in Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2020 Women Worth Watching in STEM Awards; previously recognized as a Top Intellectual Property Litigator in New York by Super Lawyers; and is routinely listed as a Life Sciences Star by LMG Life Sciences.

Dr. Helm’s recent patent litigation trial successes were profiled as contributing matters to Dechert’s recognition as a Law360 Life Sciences Practice Group of the Year in each of 2022 and 2020, and she was previously named the 2019 winner of the "U.S. Rising Star – Intellectual Property" award from LMG Life Sciences.

Dr. Helm is an active participant in the IP community and an authoritative, sought-after speaker and writer on IP topics in the U.S. and Europe. She has authored over 100 articles, book chapters and commentary on legal and scientific topics, including as a former columnist for Law.com and the ALM media group. She is a current legal columnist on IP issues for Thomson Reuters/Westlaw.

Dr. Helm is committed to advancing women in the profession as a founder of the New York chapter of ChIPs (Chiefs of Intellectual Property), a global nonprofit organization with thousands of members dedicated to advancing and connecting women in law, technology and regulatory policy. She is also a founder of the Lead Counsel Summit, a forthcoming force in the industry for lead trial counsel. She has had several leadership roles on Federal Circuit Bar Association committees, including as Chair of the Bench & Bar Planning Committee and the Veterans Appeals Committee. In 2021, Dr. Helm was individually recognized as a winner of Dechert’s Samuel E. Klein Pro Bono Awards, for her work on behalf of military veterans before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 2024, Dr. Helm was reappointed as Vice Chair of the Patent Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) for the 2024-2025 bar year, marking her second consecutive term in this role. She was also appointed to the ABA-IPL’s Task Force on Improving the Durability and Reliability of the Patent Right for the 2023-2024 bar year.