Todd A. Ostomel

Partner

About Todd

Todd Ostomel helps entrepreneurs and inventors develop and manage global patent and trade secret portfolios for protecting and monetizing inventions and ideas in the fields of inorganic and organic chemistry, electrochemistry, materials science and biotechnology.

Todd focuses on patent prosecution and portfolio management, patent opinions, due diligence, utility and design patent applications, as well as trade secret counseling. Todd has extensive experience preparing and prosecuting US and international patent applications for energy storage, energy production, clean technology, rechargeable batteries, photovoltaics, fuel cells, biofuels, bioinformatics, CO2 removal, battery recycling, nanomaterials, robotics, chemical processes, chemical recycling, diagnostic methods, methods of medical treatment, wearable medical devices, small and large molecule pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical polymorphs, antibody-drug conjugates, stem cells, tissue engineering, food products, industrial polymers, ceramics, concrete formation, biofuels, cryptocurrency, LEDs and machine learning technology.

He represents investors for intellectual property due diligence investigations. Todd also has extensive experience with trade secret enforcement.

His clients appreciate his ability to understand the technical details of their inventions as well as the legal issues relevant to their business goals.

Experience

  • Invented and patented wound-healing materials sold worldwide.
  • Served as in-house counsel for an electrochemical device startup.
  • Represented a biotech company developing lateral flow assays for COVID detection.
  • Represented a battery company developing lithium metal anode rechargeable batteries for electric vehicle applications.
  • Represented a medical device company developing treatments for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia.
  • Represented a battery company developing electrolytes for zinc, iron and lead batteries.
  • Represented a battery company developing aluminum metal anode rechargeable batteries for grid storage applications.
  • Represented a semiconductor manufacturer developing laser scanning and related technology.
  • Represented a medical diagnostic company developing machine learning analytics.
  • Represented a pharmaceutical company developing antibody-drug conjugates.
  • Represented a pharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapeutics.
  • Represented a startup company developing light-emitting diodes.
  • Represented a startup company developing portable computed tomography scanners.
  • Represented a startup company developing fuel cell and electrolyzer systems.
  • Represented a startup company making concrete using CO2.
  • Conducted due diligence investigations for a multinational corporation acquiring a foreign company, developing hybridization assays for detecting foodborne pathogens.
  • Conducted due diligence investigations for a US company acquiring startup technology.
  • Successfully enforced trade secret claims against client’s competitors.
  • Advised a startup developing agricultural technology.
  • Advised a Silicon Valley incubator on patent and trade secret protection.

Credentials

Education
  • University of California, Davis, J.D., 2009
  • University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D., 2006
  • University of California at Berkeley, B.S., 2001
Admissions
  • California, 2009
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2008

Expertise

Services
Intellectual Property & Technology
Industries
Life Sciences

Publications

  • Co-author, What Patent or Trade Secret Chemistry is Right for You? IP Tech Blog, August 19, 2025.

  • Co-author, “The Licensing Journal, Trade Secrets: Now Even Your Dog Knows Them (Thanks, Remote Work & AI),” The Licensing Journal, October 1, 2025.

  • Identifying a Single Biomolecule Means Single-molecule Detection Sensitivity, IP Tech Blog, May 8, 2024.

  • Russia Suspends Compulsory License Payments for Some Non-Russians, IP Tech Blog, March 15, 2022.

  • The USPTO Again Extends the Fast Track Program for COVID-Related Inventions, IP Tech Blog, January 4, 2022.

  • The Pandemic Isn’t Over, Nor is the USPTO’s Fast Track Program for COVID-Related Inventions, IP Tech Blog, September 2, 2021.

  • "Did You, or Are You Just Going To, Test that Invention?, IP Tech Blog, June 30, 2021.

  • Noncompliance with the Duty of Disclosure is Not an Option," IP Tech Blog, June 2, 2021.

  • "New ITC 337 Investigation Powered by Battery Design Patents," IP Tech Blog, February 4, 2021.

  • "Beware! Inventors Include Those Who Significantly Contributed to a Claimed Invention – Even if their Contribution is Not Recited in the Claim," IP Tech Blog, July 26, 2020.

  • "Are You Protecting All of Your Company’s IP?," IP Tech Blog, February 24, 2019.

  • "Providing Scientific Information in Patents after Nautilus," IP Tech Blog, July 12, 2017.

  • PRIOR ART SEARCHING BEFORE PATENT FILING CAN SAVE BOTH TIME AND MONEY – Judicious Budgeting Decisions for Patent Portfolio Owners, IP Tech Blog, February 17, 2017.

  • "BASF Wins Big in Battery Battle," IP Tech Blog, December 19, 2016.

  • "The Federal Circuit Clarifies When Claim Scope is Disavowed," IP Tech Blog, October 24, 2016.

  • "Valuable but Unpatentable," IP Tech Blog, April 11, 2016

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, INNOVIT C20 Program: Strategic IP for Hardware Start-ups, May 21, 2026

  • Speaker, The Battery Saloon, Patent and Trade Secret Protection in the Battery Industry, April 24, 2026. San Francisco Climate Change Week.

  • Speaker, GlobalIP ConfEx, Global IP Portfolio Management: Maximizing Value & Ensuring Consistency, May 10, 2025

  • Speaker, Expired Battery Patents And Why You Should Still Care About Them, PlugVolt Webinar, February 12, 2025.

  • Speaker, Is University IP Worth It?, PlugVolt, Detroit, Michigan, July 18, 2023.

  • Speaker, “Nuts & Bolts of Intellectual Property Protection for Early-Stage Startups,” UC Davis Venture Catalyst Knowledge Exchange Webinar, January 26, 2021.

  • Speaker, “Patent Insight into Battery Innovation,” Bay Area Battery Summit 2019, SLAC, Menlo Park, California, November 13, 2019.

  • Speaker, “Communicating Science to a Broad Audience,” 2018 STC Directors Meeting, Berkeley, California, August 21-22, 2018.

  • Speaker, “A Portfolio of Protections: Using IP Strategically,” Intellectual Property & the Law 2018 Symposium, Davis, California, April 6, 2018.

  • Speaker, “Battery Patent Claims Reciting Scientific Information: The Now Heightened Definiteness Requirement,” PlugVolt July 2017, Battery Seminar, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 18, 2017.

  • Speaker, “The Heightened Definiteness Requirement and Patent Claims Reciting Scientific Information,” American Chemical Society Meeting, San Francisco, California, April 2017.

  • Speaker, “Patents and Trade Secrets for Grid Storage,” PlugVolt July 2016 Battery Seminar, Detroit, Michigan, July 27, 2016.

  • Speaker, “Challenges & Experiences in Commercializing Materials-Based Technologies,” Licensing Executives Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, October 7, 2014.