Yifan Mao focuses her practice on patent counseling, prosecution, and due diligence matters in the agriculture, chemistry, and life sciences industries, focusing on areas relating to diagnostics, large molecule therapeutics, devices, sequencing, and bioinformatics.
Yifan was a senior patent agent at an agriculture biotechnology company where she developed the company’s patent portfolio on genomics, bioenergy and trait improvement technologies before joining the firm. She held research positions at Genentech and Genencor International (now DuPont Industrial Biosciences) prior to her legal career.
Yifan is the Co-President of the Fremont Union High Schools Foundation, which supports the education of over 10,000 high school students. She previously served as the Foundation’s Grant Chair and Outreach Co-Chair.
Yifan was recognized in 2025 as one of the "Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch" for Patent Law by The Best Lawyers in America®. She was recognized as a Northern California “Rising Star” in 2024 and the six years immediately preceding for Intellectual Property by Super Lawyers magazine. Yifan's native language is Mandarin Chinese.
Yifan is a frequently invited speaker on topics related to various intellectual property issues and has lectured continuing legal education courses with organizations including TRTCLE and the Practicing Law Institute.
Experience
Represent a leading clinical laboratory services provider in intellectual property-related services, including the freedom to operate analyses, patent prosecution and litigation services and due diligence and pre-litigation counseling. Technologies include clinical diagnostic, bioinformatics, and genetic testing and devices.
Represent a chemical company and patentee in asserting patent infringement claims and defending its patents against invalidity contentions.
Counseled a patentee and an international company in a Post Grant Review (PGR) proceeding and defeated the challenger’s patent invalidity challenge before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Represent an international biopharmaceutical company developing its immunology and oncology patent portfolio including its lead drug that has been commercialized in China and approved by the US FDA.
Represent a large international company in patent procurement, diligence, prelitigation counseling, and transactional matters for its sequencing technologies and devices.
Represent an emerging company developing its global patent portfolio for digital diagnostics and devices.
Represent clients in the US, China, Singapore, and Korea at various stages in developing their global patent portfolios and counseling on freedom to operate and patentability issues on technologies relating to diagnostics and therapeutics, immunology, oncology, infectious diseases, and agriculture.
Insights View All
Blogs
Asset Creation - Prosecution & Counseling
Licensing, Transactions & Monetization
Agribusiness & Food Technology
Chemicals: Industrial Chemistry & Materials and Material Science
Life Sciences: Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals & Bioinformatics
Santa Clara University School of Law J.D. (2014) magna cum laude, Dean’s List, Best Oral Advocate Award, Witkin/CALI Awards, Emery Law Scholarship
Michigan State University M.S. Biochemistry
Wuhan University, PR. China B.S. Microbiology
California (2015)
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2007)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California - Honorable Beth Labson Freeman (Aug-Dec 2014)
Fremont Union High Schools Foundation, Co-President
MEMO|Medicine & Molecules, The Kilpatrick Biopharma Industry Blog, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Business and Entrepreneurship and Encouragement Program, Advisor
Santa Clara University, School of Law, Tech Edge JD program, Mentor
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley, Member
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