Dr. Fangli Chen is a partner in the Litigation Department and chair of the Life Sciences Patent Practice. She is a distinguished IP lawyer known for her strategic foresight and exceptional problem-solving skills. Fangli represents a diverse range of biotech and pharmaceutical companies, seamlessly integrating her team with her clients' in-house operations to ensure a deep understanding of their business and proactively anticipating their needs. Her sharp legal and business instincts and collaborative approach enable her to provide swift, effective solutions that safeguard her clients' intellectual property rights and optimize success, while saving her clients valuable time and resources.
Fangli effectively identifies and transforms technological developments into valuable intellectual property assets, specializing in the strategic development of complex IP portfolios for companies that align with their business objectives.
Fangli’s practice also focuses on post-grant review before the USPTO, pre-litigation and litigation strategy, due diligence investigations, freedom-to-operate, non-infringement and invalidity analysis, licensing and other IP matters in connection with commercial transactions.
Fangli also has a wealth of experience in the following areas:
- IP Diligence: advising companies and investors in evaluating intellectual property assets, assessing FTO risks and providing thoughtful and pragmatic advice aligned with business goals.
- IP Landscape analysis: conducting complex IP landscape analysis and identify white space.
- Post-grant challenges: representing clients in inter partes review interference and various foreign opposition proceedings.
- Technology transactions & licensing: advising clients on matters relating to technology or material transfer, licensing and research collaborations.
Fangli's achievements have earned consistent recognition from reputable publications, including an 2025 IAM Global Leader by IAM Patent 1000, and named among the Top 250 Women in IP by Managing Intellectual Property. In 2021, she was recognized as US Patent Prosecution Practitioner of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property, and named Patent Strategy & Management Attorney of the Year in Massachusetts by LMG Life Sciences in 2019. Fangli has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Client Choice, Legal 500, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and Massachusetts Super Lawyers.
Education
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Suffolk University Law School, J.D.
cum laude
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D.
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Fudan University, B.S.
highest distinction
Admissions & Qualifications
- Massachusetts
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, Massachusetts
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
Awards & Recognition
Best Lawyers in America 2016-2025
IAM Patent Global Leader 2022-2025
IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners 2016-2021, 2023-2024
Client Choice 2015
Chambers USA: Massachusetts: Intellectual Property 2023-24
LMG Life Sciences: Life Sciences Star 2017-2021
LMG Life Sciences: Patent Strategy Attorney of the Year - Massachusetts 2019
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, "Top Women of Law" 2017-2018
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, “Up & Coming Lawyer”
Massachusetts Super Lawyers, “Super Lawyer” 2017-2018
Managing Intellectual Property US Patent Prosecution Practitioner of the Year 2021
Managing Intellectual Property, “Top 250 Women in IP” 2021-2023
Managing Intellectual Property IP STARS 2020-2021, 2023, 2024
The Legal 500 United States: Healthcare: Life Sciences 2019-2024
The Legal 500 United States: General Commercial Disputes 2020
Matters
Representative Matters
- Representation of a biotech company in defending its key patent in inter partes review.
- Strategic representation of large biopharmaceutical company with regard to their product protection, life cycle management, clearance study and IP diligence in connection with acquisition, license and other business partnership.
- Strategic representation of biotech start-up company with regard to protection of their key product, freedom-to-operate and management of their relationship with large biotech partners.
- IP counsel to pharmaceutical companies and universities for managing portfolios in areas of pharmacogenomics, recombinant technologies, molecular biology, bioinformatics, drug discovery and small molecules.
Patent Law