2009-2010

Donna M. Praiss graduated from Boston University School of Law after receiving a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.  She joined Kenyon & Kenyon upon receiving her law degree and subsequently became the first female associate elevated to the partnership. She was then a founder of the intellectual property group in the NY office of Hunton & Williams. Her legal practice was in the field of intellectual property law, with an emphasis on procuring, licensing, enforcing, and defending patent rights for major players in the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. In 2012, she was appointed as an Administrative Patent Judge in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, where handles patent cases, including both post-grant trials and ex parte appeals. As a participant in PTO’s Telework Enhancement Pilot Program for several years, she was recently tapped to provide guidance for other judges on how to hold legal proceedings remotely during the 2020 pandemic crisis.  In addition to serving in many other NYWBA roles, she served as Co-Chair of the Committee to Advance the Status of Women in the Profession, where she was a leader on our survey on the status of women attorneys at Manhattan law firms. She is the proud mother of four children.