Betty R. Yu, M.S.
Patent Agent
byu@harvestiplaw.com
*Practice limited to proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Practice Focus
Betty R. Yu, M.S. is a Registered Patent Agent before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. She provides
services to clients from interviewing inventors, drafting and filing applications, responding to office
actions and obtaining allowances. Ms. Yu concentrates on inventions related to a broad range of technologies,
such as:
- Protein chemistry (enzymatic bioassay, purification and characterization, sequence analysis,
column chromatography and gel electrophoresis)
- Molecular biology (immunotoxin conjugation, gene expression related to tumor growth)
- Structure-based drug design (protease inhibition based on X-ray crystallography, drug
resistance mutations)
- Bioinformatics (relational database design, high throughput screening, and assay development)
Background
With training in biochemistry and pharmaceutical biotechnology, Ms. Yu has conducted scientific research in
the development of antiviral therapeutics, first at the National Cancer Institute, and then at two start-up
pharmaceutical companies in Maryland. She has extensive experience in various aspects of drug discovery and
preclinical development, from structure-based drug design, to protein chemistry, enzymatic evaluation, X-ray
crystallographic studies, high-throughput screening, bioinformatics, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics
(DMPK).
Ms. Yu’s professional dedication has resulted in 19 scientific journal publications and 41 abstracts for
national and international conferences. Moreover, she has contributed to the filing of two investigational new
drug (IND) candidates with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ms. Yu also has successfully helped the
European astronauts in growing protein crystal for the European Space Program in 2004. She is a co-inventor of
U.S. Patent No. 7,320,878, which is directed to a method of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in AIDS
patients.
Ms. Yu served as Special Volunteer at the Office of Technology Transfer and Development of the National
Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during
2009-2011. As a result, she gained special insights in analyzing and managing IP portfolios, as well as
coordinating patenting, licensing, and direct marketing activities of the NIH inventions to accelerate
technology transfer.
Ms. Yu participates in community outreach activities that are related to women, healthcare and education.
Native to China, she enjoys and appreciates cross-cultural experiences bridging together East and West.