Eric T. Romeo

Eric. T. Romeo is a partner in Goodwin’s IP Litigation practice, with a focus on pharmaceutical patent litigation (Hatch-Waxman). Mr. Romeo has worked with clients on intellectual property issues in the pharmaceutical, chemical, biological, and high-technology industries. Mr. Romeo specializes in working with expert and technical witnesses in the biology and chemistry space. Beyond litigation, Mr. Romeo’s experience includes patent prosecution, inter partes review proceedings, and freedom to operate analysis. Mr. Romeo also devotes significant time to representing pro bono clients in criminal and immigration matters.

Prior to joining Goodwin, Mr. Romeo worked as a medicinal chemist at Merck Research Laboratories. While at Merck, Mr. Romeo designed and synthesized drug compounds to treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, inflammation, and schizophrenia. Among the compounds that Mr. Romeo synthesized at Merck is MK-8351, a novel asthma drug that progressed into human trials. Mr. Romeo is an inventor on eight U.S. Patents, including U.S. Patent No. 8,796,310, on which he is the first named inventor.

From December, 2017, through June 2018, Mr. Romeo served as a Special Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office in Lowell, Massachusetts. In this capacity, Mr. Romeo prosecuted over 200 misdemeanor and felony cases, tried more than 10 jury and bench trials, and argued over 25 dispositive and evidentiary motions.

Some of Mr. Romeo’s recent representations at Goodwin include:

• In re Bendamustine Consolidated Cases: Representing Cephalon, Inc. in patent litigation against 18 defendants involving Cephalon’s branded cancer drug, Treanda®. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a final decision in favor of Cephalon, upholding the validity and finding infringement of all patents-in-suit following a bench trial.
• Coalition for Affordable Drugs VIII, LLC v. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania: Represented patent owner the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in an inter partes review proceeding involving patents directed to the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia with a novel dosing regimen for the drug lomitapide. The PTAB issued a final decision in favor of the patent owner, upholding the validity of the patent-in-suit.
• Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Corp. v. Actavis Laboratories FL, Inc.: Represented Actavis as ANDA-defendant in patent litigation involving Merck’s branded antifungal drug Noxafil® (posaconazole). Following a bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the case was settled favorably.
• Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC v. Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC: Represented Fresenius Kabi and Actavis as ANDA-defendants in patent litigation involving Sanofi’s branded cancer drug Jevtana® (cabazitaxel). Following a bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Court found one of the two asserted patents to be valid and infringed and found the other patent to be invalid as obvious.
• In re: Copaxone 775 Patent Litigation: Represented Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. before the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in patent litigation regarding manufacturing methods for Teva’s branded product Copaxone®.The case was settled favorably prior to trial.
• Adverio Pharma GmbH et al. v. MSN Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. et. al: Represented MSN Laboratories as ANDA-defendant in patent litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware involving Bayer’s branded pulmonary hypertension drug Adempas® (riociguat). The case settled favorably during trial.
• Cour Pharmaceuticals Development Company, Inc. v. Phosphorex, Inc.: Represented Phosphorex in an intellectual property ownership dispute before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The case is currently stayed.
• Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., et al v. Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC: Represented Fresenius Kabi as ANDA-defendant in patent litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware involving Genentech’s branded chemotherapy drug Alecensa® (alectinib). The case settled favorably prior to trial.
• Representation of a 10-year-old client from El Salvador in federal immigration proceedings. The client was granted asylum in the United States in 2016. In 2017, Goodwin received the Adams Pro Bono Publico Award from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for, among other activities, the firm’s work on this asylum case. The client received permanent resident status in 2018.
• Preparation of clemency petitions for several federal inmates serving long sentences for narcotics violations. In 2016, President Obama granted clemency to four of Mr. Romeo’s clients, two of which were serving life sentences.
• Representation of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and other social justice organizations in the submission of an amicus brief to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Commonwealth v. Nathan Enesto Lugo. The case, which is currently pending, involves the constitutionality of imposing mandatory life sentences on juvenile offenders.

• Lead Author, “Medicinal chemist’s guide to patents: Key concepts and strategies,” Presented at the Spring 2021 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, April 5-30, 2021, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Paper No. 3552076
• Co-author, “Strategic Considerations for Seeking Patent Term Extension (PTE) and its Scope for Drug Products,” Goodwin Insights, May 2020