Anita Varma

Anita Varma is chair of White & Case’s global IP practice group. She is based in the firm’s Boston office, with a dual practice in London. She is qualified to practise before the US Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office.

Ms Varma provides strategic patent counselling to life sciences industry companies, guiding them through every stage of a product’s lifecycle. She works with clients in obtaining enforceable claims and supporting them in post-grant proceedings, as well as in developing and executing both offensive and defensive patent strategies. She also conducts strategic review of patent portfolios to identify strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities to minimise threats and maximise revenue.

As part of this strategic counselling, Ms Varma regularly advises on patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate issues, provides pre-litigation assessments and opinions regarding patentability, conducts IP due diligence for strategic transactions, and advises on listing and delisting matters in the US Food and Drug Administration’s Orange Book.

Clients also benefit from Ms Varma’s experience in navigating biosimilar litigation strategies. She has skilled expertise among diverse life sciences subjects, including immunology, antibody therapeutics, RNA interference therapeutics, small molecules, gene therapy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (DNA sequences), ocular products, biophotonics, messenger RNA therapeutics, protein therapeutics and protein traps.

Ms Varma is named one of the top lawyers in the United States for patent prosecution matters (Legal 500), and is viewed by competitors as “an extremely skilled attorney with both legal and business smarts” (LMG Life Sciences). Clients appreciate her “’business savvy’ approach and her familiarity with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries” and note that “the experience [of working with Anita] has been very positive” (independent survey by Chambers and Partners).

White & Case is a global law firm with a longstanding presence in the markets that matter today. The firm’s on-the-ground experience, cross-border integration and depth of local, US and English-qualified lawyers help clients work with confidence in any one market or across many. White & Case guides clients through difficult issues, bringing its insight and judgment to each situation. The firm’s innovative approaches create original solutions to clients’ most complex domestic and multi-jurisdictional deals and disputes.

The firm’s main areas of practice are outlined below.

Antitrust

Clients throughout the world seek the advice of White & Case antitrust lawyers. They count on the firm’s extensive experience in litigation against governmental authorities or private parties, counselling on delicate questions and com­prehensive worldwide coverage of merger control regimes.

Banking

Since White & Case’s founding, banking has been at the core of the firm’s practice. Today, the firm represents major banks worldwide, including many of the largest. The firm provides guidance related to acquisition finance, commercial lend­ing, project finance, bankruptcy and debt restructurings, and regulatory advice.

Capital markets

White & Case has a formidable reputation in the field of international securities and finance. Clients benefit from the firm’s capabilities in equity and debt offerings, sovereign issues, high-yield debt, securitisations, derivatives, invest­ment funds and regulatory and broker-dealer matters.

Commercial litigation

Clients entrust White & Case with their ‘must-win’ mat­ters – disputes in which huge sums, invaluable patents and brands, and even out-and-out company survival are at stake. The firm has won major trials and appeals for clients in an array of industries, including financial services, pharma­ceuticals, technology, sports, media and entertainment, and consumer products.

Financial restructuring and insolvency

White & Case is a recognised leader in complex cross-border insolvencies and workouts. The firm represents global clients in all aspects of restructurings, workouts and insolvency matters, including both transactional and litiga­tion matters.

Intellectual property

White & Case was one of the first full-service firms to develop an IP practice. Its lawyers protect and defend clients’ innovations, creative works and brands around the world, offering advice related to patents, copy­right and designs, IP audits and due diligence, licensing and merchandising, sourcing and technology, and privacy and data protection.

International arbitration

White & Case is the only leading global law firm with large and long-established arbitration teams in New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Geneva, Singapore and Stockholm, along with significant strength in other key cities, including Frankfurt, Moscow, Miami, Seoul, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Mergers and acquisitions

White & Case is among the world’s leading law firms in mergers and acquisitions. The firm advises corporations, financial institutions and private equity firms across a vari­ety of industries, in all manner of complex cross-border and domestic M&A transactions. Its M&A lawyers are leading practitioners in all major jurisdictions around the world.

Private equity

White & Case’s financial sponsor practice has a truly global reach, with market-leading service offerings in New York, London and Hong Kong, as well as fully integrated, full-service private equity practices across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. White & Case represents numerous preeminent large-cap and mid-market sponsors, as well as their portfolio compa­nies, in their domestic and cross-border transactions.

Real estate

White & Case is highly regarded for its skill in helping clients complete complex real estate financings and its in-depth experience with legal matters relating to real estate in­vestment funds. The group handles acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, portfolio sales and securitisation, financings and sales/leasebacks.

Tax

White & Case’s tax lawyers and advisers are strategi­cally located in financial centres and government capitals worldwide to provide timely, effective advice on evolving tax law and policies. The practice has provided clients with innovative, practical approaches to minimise tax liabilities on issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to financ­ings and investment fund transactions.

Trade

White & Case helps clients manage the risks and maximise the opportunities associated with the increasing regulation of international trade in goods and services. The firm has an interdisciplinary, full-service global trade practice that is one of the world’s largest and most active in trade remedies and in the law of the World Trade Organisation.

White collar

White & Case helps clients deal with government investi­gations and enforcement matters. In addition to years of front-line prosecutorial experience, the firm has substantial experience defending clients through all phases of investiga­tions, as well as criminal and civil enforcement proceedings. Clients include large corporations, as well as individuals prominent in business and political affairs.