Irina Vainberg, Ph.D.

Partner
Registered Patent Attorney

212.704.6209

More ways to contact Irina Vainberg, Ph.D.

Additional Languages: Russian

Overview
Insights

Irina represents U.S. and foreign clients in patent prosecution, client counseling, and strategic patent portfolio development, opinions, due diligence, and freedom-to-operate studies. She also advises on licensing and collaboration agreements in the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Irina’s clients include universities, large corporations, and biotech startup companies. She has extensive research experience in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics. Irina’s patent experience includes immunology, microbiology, virology, neurobiology, transgenic plant technologies, and pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations.

In addition to her J.D., Irina earned her Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry. She is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is fluent in Russian.

Irina represents U.S. and foreign clients in patent prosecution, client counseling, and strategic patent portfolio development, opinions, due diligence, and freedom-to-operate studies. She also advises on licensing and collaboration agreements in the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Irina’s clients include universities, large corporations, and biotech startup companies. She has extensive research experience in biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics. Irina’s patent experience includes immunology, microbiology, virology, neurobiology, transgenic plant technologies, and pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations.

In addition to her J.D., Irina earned her Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry. She is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is fluent in Russian.

  • NYIPLA
  • AUTM
  • Women in Licensing

Education

  • Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 2006
  • New York University, Ph.D., 1997, cell biology and biochemistry
  • Lomonosov Moscow State University, B.S., 1991, molecular biology

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Languages

  • Russian
  • Speaker, “IP Insights: Inventorship and Commercialization,” Yale Ventures, March 16, 2023.
  • Speaker, “Battle Over CRISPR: the Road Ahead,” lecture at NYU School of Medicine, March 6, 2017, and at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, May 12, 2017.
  • Speaker, “Protecting New Uses of Drugs,” Nature SciCafe meeting, Nov. 30, 2016.
  • Speaker, “What and When Should You Patent?” Nature SciCafe meeting, June 21, 2016.
  • Speaker, “Patent Eligibility of Diagnostic Methods,” Nature SciCafe meeting, Oct. 19, 2015.
  • Speaker, The Rockefeller University Biotechnology Forum: Myriad, July 2013.
  • Co-author, “New York Narrows the Scope of Employee “Invention Assignment” Provisions,” Troutman Pepper, October 12, 2023.
  • Co-author, “District Court Broadens Scope of Patent Ineligibility Under § 101 for a Treatment Method,” IP Watchdog, Jan. 18, 2016.
  • Co-author, “Nuclear export of heat shock and non-heat-shock mRNA occurs via similar pathways,” Mol. Cell. Biol., 20:3996-4005, 2000.
  • Co-author, “Prefoldin, a chaperone that delivers unfolded proteins to cytosolic chaperonin,” Cell, 93:863-873, 1998.
  • Co-author, “Chaperonin-mediated folding of actin and tubulin,” J. Cell Biol., 132:1-4, 1996.
  • Co-author, “Quasi-native chaperonin-bound intermediates in facilitated protein folding,” J. Biol. Chem., 270:23910-23913, 1995.
  • Co-author, “Specificity in chaperonin-mediated protein folding,” Nature (Lond.), 375:250-253, 1995.
  • Co-author, “Chaperonin-mediated folding of vertebrate actin-related protein and γ-tubulin,” J. Cell Biol., 122:1301-1310, 1993.
  • Co-author, “Two cofactors and cytoplasmic chaperonin are required for the folding of α- and β-tubulin,” Mol. Cell. Biol., 13:2478-2485, 1993.