Jessamyn Berniker is Co-Chair of the firm’s Patent Litigation practice. She has nearly two decades of experience focused on patent litigation and licensing disputes in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, electronic, mechanical, digital media, and medical device industries. Jessamyn has served as counsel to companies such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck, Takeda, Roche, Novartis, and Bayer.
The National Law Journal has selected Jessamyn as one of the 40 “most accomplished young attorneys in the D.C. area.” She has been recognized in the 2018-2023 editions of IAM Patent 1000, the World’s Leading Patent Practitioners. The 2018 edition praises her as a “biotech star” who “can carry the day in other types of disputes too.” Benchmark Litigation named Jessamyn to its 2017-2019 “40 & Under List.” Managing Intellectual Property has recognized Jessamyn as one of the global “IP STARS - Top 250 Women in IP” from 2013 to 2017, and since 2018, the publication has recognized her as an “IP Star.” LMG Life Sciences recognized Jessamyn as a “Life Science Star” in the area of patent litigation from 2012 to 2022.
Jessamyn served as the Co-Chair of the Pharma Litigation subcommittee for the ABA Intellectual Property Law Patent Litigation Committee for a number of years.
Jessamyn serves on the advisory board of the Center for WorkLife Law at the UC Hastings College of Law, a research and advocacy organization that seeks to advance gender and racial equity in the workplace and in higher education.
After law school, Jessamyn was a law clerk to Judge Arthur J. Gajarsa of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She joined Williams & Connolly in 2002. She has argued before the Federal Circuit, has participated in thirteen district court trials and arbitration hearings, and has appeared several times before the PTAB.
Jessamyn earned her B.S. in chemistry, magna cum laude, from Pacific Lutheran University in 1998, and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Prior to law school, she spent several months conducting organic chemistry research at Argonne National Laboratory.
Updated Sep 2023
