Partner
Michelle M. LeCointe
Michelle LeCointe focuses her practice on U.S. and international IP transactions, strategies, and patent procurement. She has a wealth of experience in a broad array of technologies including pharmaceuticals, biologics, protein therapeutics and antibodies, medical devices, medical diagnostics and research materials, manufacturing processes, as well as lithium and sodium ion rechargeable batteries. She frequently counsels clients on IP agreements, corporate IP due diligence, U.S. and international patent applications, post-grant contested proceedings, non-infringement and invalidity opinions, and patent litigation.
Michelle received a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University, in 1997. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, in 2000.
Michelle enjoys close collaboration with her clients on all aspects of IP law. The breadth of her experience allows her to provide clients with multiple options to fit their needs and to identify potential complications, with particular insight into the sometimes muddy issues when other legal fields overlap, such as asset sales, employment agreements, and ownership of IP rights. Michelle is also particularly adept at helping to bringing law enforcement to bear for the use of criminal proceedings against theft of a client’s trade secrets, which can often be more effective and efficient than civil proceedings.
A substantial portion of Michelle’s practice is devoted to helping clients develop strategic plans for IP protection, including determining when to file patent applications and how to adjust strategies in light of the evolution of patent examination, both in the U.S. and internationally. Michelle readily helps clients identify areas that may be more strategically protected as “know how” or trade secrets, and provides tailored advice on how to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
Michelle has well-earned experience with a host of complex legal issues such as protecting difficult and emerging technologies and managing high-value patent portfolios. She regularly, drafts and negotiates a variety of IP agreements, such as complex, joint venture and joint development agreements, research collaboration agreements, and asset purchase agreements. In addition, she intuitively drafts tailored template agreements, such as simple licenses, and confidentiality and material transfer agreements that better protect clients’ particular businesses needs and interests than off-the-shelf agreements. Michelle also has an innate instinct for people, that allows her to fully shepherd clients through difficult and sometimes touchy transactions with opposing parties, such as mediated and non-mediated litigation settlements, even successfully renegotiating or terminating agreements when business conditions have changed.
When clients are making substantial investments or IP purchases, Michelle is often asked to conduct due diligence and provide valuation-oriented evaluations of the legal risks associated with a specific product, establish freedom-to-operate, and conduct patentability analyses in crowded fields.
For all of her matters, Michelle likes to truly get to know her clients, and their businesses and technologies, and brings her many years of experience to bear to provide coordinated strategic advice and efficient results. She prides herself, not only on keeping abreast of developments in IP law, but often anticipates and develops new ways to address those that affect her clients. In view of the recent FTC ban of non-compete requirements in employment agreements, Michelle is developing agreement provisions to better protect trade secrets and avoid confidentiality clauses being interpreted as non-compete clauses. She is also developing draft guidelines for the use of new AI tools in the IP arena, including with incorporate legal departments. These guidelines aim to synthesize the often-disjointed information about legal ethics and the use of AI, with practical, IT-related aspects. To that end, Michelle regularly participates in high-level IP organization working groups with the goal of drafting responses to government agency rulemaking notices, such as march-in rights for government-funded inventions, licensing of NIH-developed technologies, and numerous USPTO proposals.
Pro bono legal advice is also important to Michelle and she gives her time and IP expertise to a number of charities and individuals, including a nationally recognized organization which promotes reading for children, and an organization that advocates for empowering children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Prior to entering the legal field, Michelle conducted research in the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School, culminating in her thesis relating to the role of integrins in mucosal mast cell migration. Before joining Seed IP, Michelle worked as an associate attorney and then as of counsel at Baker Botts in Austin, Texas.
Columbia Law School
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
J.D. 2000
Harvard University
Biochemical Sciences
B.A. (magna cum laude) 1997
Michelle is admitted to the state bars of Washington, New York and Texas. She is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Michelle is a Board Member of the Washington State Patent Law Association (WSPLA), the Washington State Bar Intellectual Property Section, the Intellectual Property Owners Association Licensing Committee, Life Science Washington, and the Harvard Club of Seattle.
“Trade Secrets and Confidentiality in Agreements and Due Diligence Under FTC non-Compete Rules”, WSBA IP Licensing Institute, July 23, 2024
“Financial Terms and Other Consideration in IPTransactions,” WSBA IP Licensing Institute, July 18, 2023
“Adding Value to Licenses: Legal-Focused Provisions,” WSBAIP Licensing Institute, July 15, 2022
“Patent Law Year In Review,” WSBA 27th Annual IP Institute, April 28, 2022
“Managing Innovation: Patent Basics for Biotechnology Counsel,” Co-Author Biotechnology and the Law,2nd Ed., American Bar Association, 2019
“Prosecuting, asserting, and licensing lithium iron phosphate battery patents invented by Dr. John Goodenough”. Presentation at the Battery Industry Conference - National Alliance for Advanced Technology Batteries (NAATBatt) Conference, March, 2018 (San Antonio)
When people ask me why I’m an IP attorney, I tell them it’s because I’ve never outgrown being fascinated by approximately everything. Whenever I see something new, my first reaction is to find out more about it. Whenever I’m presented with an opportunity, my first reaction is to jump right in and figure out how to make things work. Somehow, I was lucky enough to find a career where the perpetual seven-year-old in me is not merely accommodated, but actually useful.
My interests and activities outside of work constantly shift, but those that I enjoy the most and remain engaged with are often connected with someone important in my life.
Whenever I need to think deeply about something, I turn to oil painting, a skill (or, in my case, perhaps lack thereof) that I grew up practicing with my aunt. More recently I have been trying my hand at other visual arts alongside my own ten-year-old child.
A friend’s obsession with otters led me to the wonderful volunteer program at the Seattle Aquarium, where I now spend an afternoon each week interpreting exhibits for guests. It always brings a huge smile to my face when a reluctant child (or adult) finally succumbs to my enthusiasm for everything in the touch pools and gets a “hug” from the sea urchins or discovers that sea cucumbers feel like wet gummy bears.
And I am always looking forward to whatever I stumble upon next.
Honors & Awards
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What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
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How to customize formatting for each rich text
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The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
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What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
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How to customize formatting for each rich text
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