Overview
Melanie R. Rupert is a partner in the Life Sciences IP practice at Paul Hastings in New York. She has over two decades of experience in the life sciences space, including leading bet-the-company Hatch-Waxman cases on behalf of innovator drug companies, and she has represented some of the world’s leading life sciences companies in high‑stakes patent challenges to blockbuster products. Clients praise her as “incredibly smart and strategic,” and “phenomenal and a really tough opponent; her depth of knowledge and skill is second to none.” (Chambers USA – Intellectual Property: Patent.)
Her recent successes include a jury trial win for AbbVie/Allergan in Delaware federal court, where the Paul Hastings team established infringement of three Botox®-related patents and obtained $56 million in damages based on a 27% reasonable royalty. This award was tied for the highest percentage ever awarded in a pharmaceutical patent case. She was also co-lead counsel for Eisai and Merck in achieving a complete victory in a multibillion-dollar Hatch‑Waxman case in the District Court of New Jersey. There, her team successfully defended a patent covering Eisai’s Lenvima® (lenvatinib) product, a blockbuster oncology drug used in combination with Keytruda®. In addition, Melanie was co-lead counsel for Eisai in a post-grant review proceeding, where she successfully obtained a Rule 36 affirmance from the Federal Circuit of the PTAB’s ruling that all claims of a third-party polymorph patent were unpatentable. She was also counsel to AbbVie/Allergan in Allergan v. MSN Laboratories, a decision that reshaped the doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting and safeguarded patents critical to Allergan’s Viberzi® franchise. This case was named “2025 Impact Case of the Year” at both the Managing IP Americas Awards and the LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards.
Beyond litigation, Melanie advises clients on other business‑critical matters, including patent portfolio strategy, opposition proceeding strategies in countries around the world, and due diligence on intellectual property assets as part of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.
In addition to her client work, Melanie holds significant leadership roles inside and outside of Paul Hastings. She has served as global co-chair of talent development at Paul Hastings for nearly a decade. In that position, she has played a key role in advancing the development of thousands of associates across the Firm’s 24 offices. In addition, she serves as one of four elected members of the Firm’s partner compensation committee. She also served as an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law for five years, where she taught a course on life sciences patent law each spring. In addition, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Babyface Foundation for over a decade, and she remains actively involved as pro bono counsel.
Melanie is widely recognized by Chambers USA, Managing IP, Legal 500, and LMG Life Sciences for her strategic insight and trial skills, and has been named among the “Top 250 Women in IP.” She received a B.S. in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Molecular & Cell Biology from Cornell University, where she was also a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Scholar, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Accolades
- Recognized in Chambers USA, Intellectual Property: Patent
- Recognized in IAM Patent 1000, Patent Litigation
- Recognized in as an IP Star in Managing IP
- Recognized in LMG Life Sciences
- Recognized as a Leading Practitioner for Life Sciences by Expert Guides: Women in Business Law
- Shortlisted for “Most Inspirational Woman in IP” by Life Sciences Patent Network (LSPN) (2025)
- Shortlisted for “Life Sciences Lawyer of the Year” by Women in Business Law Awards (2022)
- Named one of the “Top 250 Women in IP” by Managing Intellectual Property
- Recipient of the Paul Grossman Award in 2013, which is awarded to one Paul Hastings partner annually for excellence in training, mentoring, and guiding the professional development of associates
Education
- New York University School of Law, J.D., 2001
- Cornell University, B.S. in Biological Sciences, Concentration in Molecular & Cell Biology, 1998 (Howard Hughes Undergraduate Scholar)
Representations
- Represented AbbVie/Allergan in establishing infringement of three Botox®-related patents in a federal Delaware jury trial and obtaining $56 million in damages to date based on a 27% reasonable royalty, earning a “Litigator of the Week” runner-up distinction in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily (on appeal).
- Represented Eisai and Merck as co-lead counsel in achieving a complete victory in a multibillion-dollar Hatch‑Waxman case in the District Court of New Jersey, and successfully defended a patent covering Eisai’s Lenvima® (lenvatinib) product, a blockbuster oncology drug used in combination with Keytruda®.
- Represented Eisai as co-lead counsel in securing a win in a post-grant review proceeding before the PTAB that all claims of a third-party polymorph patent on Eisai’s own compound lemborexant were unpatentable as inherently anticipated. Melanie argued the appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit, which upheld the PTAB’s decision per curium in a Rule 36 decision.
- AbbVie/Allergan in securing a precedent-setting appellate ruling in the nationally-watched, industry-tracked Federal Circuit decision in Allergan v. MSN Laboratories, which protects first‑filed, first‑issued patents from obviousness-type double patenting challenges, and reversed the District Court’s finding that patents protecting AbbVie’s Viberzi® drug product lacked written description support. This highly consequential decision earned Paul Hastings’ IP practice a “Litigator of the Week” runner-up distinction in The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily and “Impact Case of the Year” at both Managing IP’s and LMG Life Science’s 2025 Americas Awards
- Presently represents Helsinn in five inter partes review challenges before the PTAB to its Akynzeo® product, an innovative treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
- Represented Merck in securing a favorable settlement in a Hatch-Waxman case involving Entereg® (alvimopan), an innovative treatment for post-operative ileus. Following a favorable claim construction ruling, Teva stipulated that its proposed generic product would infringe the sole patent at issue and later agreed to settle the case with a consent judgment, reflecting a complete victory for Merck.
- Represented Eisai in securing favorable settlements with all generic challengers in Hatch‑Waxman cases involving Banzel® (rufinamide), an innovative treatment for a rare and devastating form of childhood epilepsy.
- Represented Teijin Pharma in securing favorable settlements with all thirteen generic challengers in Hatch‑Waxman cases involving Uloric® (febuxostat), an innovative treatment for gout.
- Represented Eisai in securing favorable settlements with all generic challengers in Hatch‑Waxman cases involving Belviq® (lorcaserin), an innovative treatment for weight loss.
- Represented Covidien, including successfully opposing a preliminary injunction, against claims of patent infringement related to its cuffed endotracheal tubes.
- Presently represents a number of branded pharmaceutical companies in pre-suit diligence in anticipation of patent challenges to their key products, which includes portfolio counseling and strategy.
Accolades
Engagement & Publications
Ms. Rupert frequently speaks and writes about current patent issues. Recent representative publications and engagements include:
- Panelist, "Tips and Tactics for Protecting Life Sciences Innovations in the Current Legal Climate," American Bar Association's Landslide Webinar (August 22, 2017)
- Panelist, "Year in Review: 2016-2017 Updates in Hatch-Waxman Law," ACI's Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law (July 20, 2017)
- “Managing the Complexities of Hatch-Waxman Pharmaceutical Litigation” in “Behind the Minds: Recent Trends in Patent Infringement Lawsuits” (Book Chapter, March 2014)
Involvement
- Member of the Board of Directors and pro bono counsel to the Little Baby Face Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides reconstructive surgeries by top surgeons to children in financial need who are born with congenital facial deformities
- Member of the State Bar of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Michigan, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin