Grant S. Shackelford

How Grant Helps Clients

Grant represents clients on a breadth of intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on patent litigation. He has extensive experience in representing clients in disputes before federal district courts, the Federal Circuit and inter partes matters before the USPTO. Grant’s litigation work has spanned a broad spectrum of technologies, with a focus on pharmaceutical cases under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

As part of his litigation practice, Grant has extensive experience preparing pleadings, drafting motions, analyzing and preparing contentions, working with experts, preparing written discovery requests and responses, taking and defending depositions, summary judgment briefing and appellate briefing. He is also experienced in all phases of inter partes review proceedings. In addition to litigation, Grant regularly engages in client counseling, preparing patent validity and infringement opinions as well as opinions on patentability and freedom-to-operate.

Patent Prosecution 

Grant also has extensive experience working with clients to obtain patent protection for inventions spanning a wide range of technical areas including chemical compounds/compositions/methods of using in the pharmaceutical and food additive areas; LEDs; biotechnology (proteins), mechanical devices, polymers, batteries and fuel cells. 

In this respect, Grant counsels clients on patentable aspects of new inventions as well as opportunities to expand their patent portfolios on existing products.  In drafting and prosecuting patent applications, Grant utilizes his technical background to work closely with the inventors to understand the scientific workings of their invention and the state of the art. In this process Grant also communicates with client business contacts for a product group to understand commercial interests applicable to the invention.  Employing this comprehensive approach from start to finish, Grant obtains patent protection that is aligned his client’s business and scientific goals.

Prior to joining Buchanan, Grant worked as an associate at a DC-based law firm, where his practice focused on patent law. He also drafted and prosecuted patent applications, primarily in the areas of chemistry and biotechnology.

Grant also has a background in scientific research. As a graduate and undergraduate research student, he studied enzyme superfamilies, using X-ray crystallography and enzymology tools to characterize individual enzymes and also used bioinformatics to analyze the relatedness between groups of enzymes.

What Clients Can Expect

Grant works closely with clients to understand their needs and develop effective strategies to achieve them. Drawing on his breadth of legal and technical experience, as well as strong analytical and writing skills, Grant thoroughly analyzes legal issues from multiple angles and clearly communicates reasoned and comprehensive advice to his clients.

I am meticulous in my legal practice, thoroughly analyzing legal and technical issues to achieve well-founded and winning positions.

Outside the Office

When he is not working, Grant enjoys spending as much time as he can with his wife and three young children. He also enjoys the outdoors, hiking and camping with friends.

Proof Points

• Represented a defendant in a high-stakes patent infringement lawsuit that involved mechanical and chemical technology; closely involved in summary judgment briefing that was successful in district court and affirmed on appeal at the Federal Circuit.
• Represented a defendant in a Hatch Waxman litigation involving esomeprazole, achieving a non-infringement determination that was affirmed on appeal at the Federal Circuit.
• Successfully represented a patent owner in multiple patent infringement disputes and was actively involved in negotiating agreements that favorably resolved the disputes.