About Rachel L. Schweers, PhD
Dr. Rachel Schweers focuses her practice on intellectual property transactions and litigation for organizations in life sciences, biotechnology and health care.
Business-oriented, results-driven attorney with extensive scientific, health care, data technology and biotech experience harnessing opportunities for impact within life science companies
Rachel’s career spanning scientific, business and legal communities uniquely positions her legal skill set mixed with practical and strategic experience. Clients rely on Rachel’s passion for harnessing scientific innovation and maximizing key assets, along with her depth of know-how as a research and development scientist in navigating complex transactional and litigation matters. Rachel helps her clients develop, protect and promote global intellectual property strategies that nurture and commercialize key assets.
Rachel’s years working in the science and health care sector establishing, building and protecting key assets and maximizing intellectual property portfolios gave her first-hand experience with corporate environments. Rachel served as co-founder and chief strategy officer for an oncology analytics organization focused on data and informatics, and managed the myriad business, regulatory and legal issues. Rachel was also senior corporate counsel and vice president, intellectual property, for a large health care company, strategizing and negotiating complex business transactions while managing and overseeing the intellectual property relationships across the international organization. Prior to her business career, Rachel served as a law clerk to US District Judge Amy J. St. Eve in the Northern District of Illinois, who has since been appointed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Rachel’s work as a patent attorney with Katten focuses on both life science transactions and pharmaceutical patent litigation, as well as the Hatch-Waxman Act. Rachel’s transactional work with pharmaceutical and biotech clients includes asset purchase agreements, licensing agreements and many other strategic relationships to support a thriving product life cycle, including development, manufacturing and commercialization agreements. Rachel’s litigation experience includes managing fact and expert discovery, preparing opinions and Paragraph IV Notice letters, and participating in court conferences and at trial. Rachel has also worked in unfair competition litigations related to pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Before earning her law degree, Rachel worked as a patent agent preparing and prosecuting patent applications, including applications for protein-protein interactions, DNA-protein binding assays, treatment of neurological disorders, stem cell technology, antifungal compounds, polymers biological disinfectants, genetic testing, skin treatments and cosmetics.
Rachel’s scientific prowess stems from her earlier work as a research and development scientist at Independent Forensics, concentrating on designing DNA technologies, including pharmacogenomics assays and forensic research tools. She gained experience in genetics and molecular biology during her post-doctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with Dr. Paul Ney, focusing on the role of pro-apoptotic proteins during erythroid differentiation using mouse models. As part of her doctoral studies at Rice University, Rachel worked with Dr. John S. Olson. Her dissertation research related to the electrostatic regulation of oxygen and carbon monoxide binding in the alpha and beta subunits of recombinant human hemoglobin. Rachel's doctoral and post-doctoral work has led to multiple publications in peer-reviewed technical journals, including Biochemistry, Journal of Biological Chemistry and Blood.
Rachel has worked at Katten as a patent agent and summer associate, and later as an associate prior to her clerkship. She rejoined the firm as counsel in 2022.
Practice Focus
- Hatch-Waxman
- Life sciences transactions
- Intellectual property litigation
- Life sciences litigation
- Patent portfolio management
News
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September 2, 2025
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September 3, 2024
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September 5, 2023
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November 1, 2022
Publications
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August 20, 2025The Drug Approval Process: An Overview | ANDA Litigation: Strategies and Tactics for Pharmaceutical Patent Litigators (4th Ed., pp. 33-43) American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section | Lead Author
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August 20, 2025Orange Book Misuse: Delisting and Use Code Challenges | ANDA Litigation: Strategies and Tactics for Pharmaceutical Patent Litigators (4th Ed., pp. 663-672) American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section | Lead Author
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May 17, 2010Alkyl Isocyanides Serve as Transition State Analogues for Ligand Entry and Exit in Myoglobin | Biochemistry | Co-Author
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March 2010Distal Histidine Stabilizes Bound O2 and Acts as a Gate for Ligand Entry in Both Subunits of Adult Human Hemoglobin* | Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 285, Issue 12 | Co-Author
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January 1, 2010Role of His(E7) in Regulating Ligand Binding to the Subunits of Human HbA | Biophysical Journal, Volume 98, Issue 3, Supplement 1, 642A | Co-Author
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January 2008NIX is required for programmed mitochondrial clearance during reticulocyte maturation | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | Co-Author
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March 2007BNIP3L promotes mitochondrial destruction and ribosome clearance in maturing reticulocytes | Blood Cells Molecules and Diseases | Co-Author
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January 1, 2006Role of erythropoietin receptor signaling in Friend virus-induced erythroblastosis and polycythemia | Blood, Volume 107, Issue 1 | Co-Author
Presentations and Events
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June 2022BIO International Convention | Big Data/AI & Personalized MedicineCo-moderator
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June 2021BIO International Convention Digital | Lessons from COVID on Innovation Collaboration and EnforcementPanelist
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December 2020Intellectual Property Virtual Forum for Life Sciences | Out of Monumental Challenges Come Substantial IP OpportunitiesPanelist
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June 2018ABA Section of International Law Life Sciences Conference | There's No Place Like Home: Jurisdiction in Life Sciences Litigation (Copenhagen, Denmark)Panelist
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April 24, 2014Speaker
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January 23–24, 2014Moderator | Looking Beyond Year 12 – How to Ensure Your Patent Strategies Are Adding Value Beyond the Statutory Period of Exclusivity
