Donna M. Haynes
Practice Areas
- Energy and Utilities
- Intellectual Property, Entertainment, and Technology Protection
Industries
Education
- University of Houston Law Center, J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2011
- San Diego State University, Advanced Certificate in Biomedical Quality Systems, 2006
- University of Texas at Austin, B.S., with university honors, 2001
Bar & Court Admissions
Donna is of counsel in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the technology and intellectual property group. She focuses her practice on the preparation and prosecution of patents. She also advises clients on transactional patent and trademark matters. In addition, she has provided counsel related to freedom to operate, patent validity, infringement analysis and due diligence for protecting developing business prospects.
Career highlights include:
- Representing a major medical device and health care company before the US Patent Office for procurement of patent assets
- Representing a major energy company before the US Patent Office for procurement of patent assets
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Representing a major energy company before the US Patent Office in a patent inter partes review
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Representing a major agricultural biotechnology corporation in district court in defending against a suit for infringement of patents relating to insect-resistant genes for plants
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Representing a major cloud-connected backup and recovery company in defending against a suit for patent infringement
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Representing a major energy company in a plaintiff's action in district court for declaratory judgment that the federal drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico constituted force majeure under offshore drilling contracts
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Representing a major energy company in a plaintiff's products liability action in district court for mooring failures of offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Ike
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Representing a pro bono client in a plaintiff's action in district court for human trafficking and racketeering by a gulf coast marine services company
Donna received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barons, and received the University of Houston Institution of Intellectual Property and Informational Law Award for Distinguished Accomplishment. She also served as chief articles editor for The Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy. She received her Advanced Certificate in Biomedical Quality Systems from San Diego State University and her B.S. in Biology, Focus in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at Austin, university honors.
Prior to attending law school, Donna worked in the biomedical and biotechnological industries.
Professional and Community Activities
- Intellectual Property Advisor for Activ8 IP, Inc.
- Andrews Hunton Kurth Moot Court National Championship Committee Board Member
- Houston Intellectual Property Law Association, Member
- Intellectual Property Owners Association, Member
- International Trademark Association, Member
Honors & Awards
- University of Houston Institution for Intellectual Property & Information Law Award for Distinguished Accomplishment, 2011
News
- 1/16/2020Attorneys from the Vorys patent team in collaboration with Active8 IP released a white paper today that discusses how to efficiently obtain quality patents that facilitate business goals with smarter patent spend management.
- 11/9/2017
- 1/25/2017Vorys announced that a team of four AmLaw 50 patent lawyers and their staff have joined the firm’s Houston office. Carey Jordan, Iona Kaiser and Jeremy Harrison will join as partners and Donna Haynes will join as of counsel.
Events
- 2/12/2020Vorys attorneys Carey Jordan and Donna Haynes joined Activ8 President Sharon Shofner-Meyer to present a webinar titled, A Calm Port in the Storm, on February 12, 2020.
- 6/26/2018On June 26, 2018, Vorys Partner Carey Jordan and Of Counsel Donna Haynes presented a webinar as part of Centerforce’s 2018 IP Strategy Summit Series.
Insights
- 3/30/2022The USPTO’s Patent Pro Bono Program provides free legal assistance to qualifying inventors and small businesses for the preparation and filing of patent applications.
- 3/28/2022On Thursday, March 24th, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in collaboration with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), announced a new Pro Bono Program for qualifying inventors, marking a great step forward in supporting innovation.
- 8/9/2021On August 5, a split Federal Circuit vacated the district court’s ruling of no induced infringement against Teva Pharmaceuticals (Teva) of a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) patent and reinstated the jury’s $235 million patent infringement damages verdict. GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., No. 2018-1976 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 5, 2021) at 4.
- 7/29/2021On July 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first-ever interchangeable biosimilar product.
- 5/6/2020The Patent Trial and Appeal Board designated as precedential an Order outlining six factors the Board considers when determining whether to apply its discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny institution of inter partes review due to a trial date set to occur earlier than the Board’s final written decision.
- 5/9/2018The United States Patent and Trademark Office (the office) recently issued guidance on the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu on post-grant patent proceedings, specifically inter partes review.
- 1/11/2018Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit again took up the issue of liability for divided infringement, re-affirming its prior precedent and clarifying the requirements for holding an alleged infringer directly liable for a third party’s actions.