LSIPR 50 2017: Larry Coury—The art of successful litigation

Larry Coury says his biggest achievement is building a talented litigation group at biotechnology company Regeneron. But this is not all he’s achieved during his time at the New York-headquartered business.

When he took up the post of director of dispute resolution in 2014, Coury was the first litigation attorney at Regeneron.

Now, the team includes three attorneys and two paralegals, with Coury serving as senior director of dispute resolution.

Although the bulk of Coury’s work concerns patent litigation and disputes, he also oversees corporate governance litigation, contract disputes, employment disputes, product liability issues, personal injury cases, and any other disputes that have the potential to result in litigation.

IP is the foundation on which Regeneron and the biotechnology industry is built, and advancements in technology require an enormous investment of time and money, he explains.

Consequently, it’s not surprising that companies want to retain or monetise the investments and competitive advantages they have obtained through the development of new technologies.

“Disputes arise frequently over the ownership of these technologies, so it is essential that the people involved in dispute resolution have a thorough understanding of the technology and associated IP when trying to resolve these disputes,” he says.

At the heart of Coury’s role: the resolution of technologically complex disputes.

Biotechnology has been Coury’s passion since college and throughout graduate school. Like many other lawyers in the biotechnology industry, he began his career as a scientist and later chose to pursue a legal path.