Melissa Pendleton counsels clients on a wide range of domestic and international intellectual property issues, including patent drafting and prosecution; patentability, infringement, validity and freedom to operate opinions; portfolio management; due diligence; and general client counseling and strategic planning.  She also counsels clients with respect to trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights.

Melissa has experience in various technical disciplines, including polymers, composite materials, semiconductor materials, chemical processing and synthesis, cosmetics, textiles, fibers, films, non-woven fabrics, biotechnology, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and medical diagnostics and therapies.

Melissa has counseled large corporations, mid-sized companies, and small startups.  She has also counseled universities and research institutions located in the United States and abroad, including member institutions of the North Carolina and Georgia university systems, as well as universities and non-profit research organizations in the United Kingdom and Canada.

From 1990–1997, Melissa served as an associate and partner with Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson. Following Alston & Bird’s 1997 acquisition of Bell Seltzer, she led Alston & Bird’s Chemical and Pharmaceutical Patent Solicitation Group and served as a member of Alston & Bird’s Life Science Management Team.