Jean Witz is senior patent counsel in the Patents and Innovations Department at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she assists with the preparation and prosecution of patent applications.

Prior to joining the firm, Jean spent 37 years at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), most recently as Supervisory Patent Examiner. She began her USPTO career in 1988 as a Patent Examiner in Technology Center (TC) 1600, where she examined applications in a wide variety of biotechnology areas, ranging from cosmetics and enzymes to animal and plant extracts, microbiological cell lines, and edible material having pharmacological effects. In 2006, she became a Quality Assurance Specialist, responsible for reviewing the work product of all examiners in TC 1600; preparing and delivering training on procedural, policy, and legal issues for internal and external stakeholders; and consulting with examiners for pre-appeal and appeal conferences. In 2015, Jean became a Supervisory Patent Reexamination Specialist in the Central Reexamination Unit, where she oversaw all re-examination and re-issue actions in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, industrial chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science, and also provided authoritative interpretation of legal precedents.

After receiving her master’s degree from George Washington University, Jean worked for Battelle Laboratories and Hazelton Laboratories, where she evaluated toxicity studies of drugs submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.

Jean has more than 35 years of experience teaching college-level courses, including on the topics of anatomy, physiology, microbiology, general biology, and intellectual property. She is currently an instructor at the University of Maryland.