Tom Ciotti

Partner
Morrison & Foerster
Palo Alto, CA

Thomas E. Ciotti is a partner and co-founder of the Venture Intellectual Property group, and founder of the biotechnology/chemistry and medical device patent groups at Morrison & Foerster LLP. Mr. Ciotti has over 30 years of experience in life sciences intellectual property law and is regularly acknowledged by his peers as one of the top life sciences intellectual property lawyers in the United States. Mr. Ciotti is one of a distinguished group of attorneys who have been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for ten years. He was one of the first biotechnology patent attorneys and represented and continues to represent, universities and corporations that pioneered the field of biotechnology. For many years Mr. Ciotti's practice revolved around counseling emerging life science companies, not only in the chemistry/biotech field, but also in the medical device field. In the course of doing so, he has served as principal intellectual property counsel to numerous biotechnology and medical device companies. Due dilligence counseling from both the investor and company sides have always been a significant part of his practice. In recent years venture side due dilligence has become the mainstay of Mr. Ciotti's practice and a critical and important part of Morrison & Foerster's life sciences practice. Mr. Ciotti holds technical and law degrees from the University of Michigan. He was president of the San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Associationand has served as chairman of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California.