Dr. Kimberlee Thompson Raley focuses her practice on preparing and prosecuting domestic and foreign patent applications, providing patentability, invalidity, and non-infringement opinions, and conducting freedom-to-operate and due diligence analysis. She delivers honed skills in biological, chemical, materials, and mechanical technologies. Kimberlee has experience with therapeutic and diagnostic methods related to single-cell sequencing, genome engineering, immunology, and drug discovery; formulations and processes related to drug delivery, nanoparticles, polymers, coatings, and ceramics; and mechanical devices including surgical devices and biomedical implants. She has assisted small businesses, major corporations, universities, and research centers to identify and own their unique intangible assets on a global scale.

Notably, Kimberlee worked as a chemist and material scientist prior to the law – a critical component to providing substantive ability and fluency to understanding science and technology as a patent prosecution attorney today. As a scientist, Kimberlee was responsible for innovation that resulted in 15 patents, so she understands the patent process from her client’s viewpoint. As a result, Kimberlee collaborates seamlessly with engineers and other inventors and scientists to develop patents for vanguard innovation at all levels of complexity. She is at her best when working on sophisticated and advanced subject matter and is as excited by and invested in client discoveries as they are.

Kimberlee particularly enjoys practicing law because she can leave the lab behind while making a difference for those involved in frontline advancements in society. Working as a chemist made her a better lawyer because she bridges the gap between science and the law at all phases of development. In addition, working in commercial R&D allowed her to develop that critical “business sense” for identifying important protections, uses, and applications for the given and often specific intangible asset her client is seeking to own and monetize today and into the future. Her aptitude for both science and the law is strengthened by her personal commitment to being responsive, adjusting her communication style and level of understanding for the audience at hand, and delivering the best quality product imaginable on time and on budget.

Kimberlee received her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. While in law school, she externed for the Honorable Amy Totenberg, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Kimberlee also served as a managing editor of the Emory International Law Review and participated in the AIPLA Giles Rich Moot Court and the Emory Law TI:GER start-up technology commercialization program. She earned her Doctorate in Polymers, Master of Science in Textile Chemistry, and Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

​Before JMIN

Prior to joining the firm, Kimberlee was an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright US, LLP, in Austin, Texas, where her primary responsibilities included preparing and prosecuting patent applications involving chemical compounds and processes for the chemical, petroleum, and pharmaceutical industries. Before law school, Kimberlee worked as a research scientist and chemist and supervised a team of technicians to develop agrochemical, biocide, ink and coating, textile, surfactant, and personal care products.

Outside the Office

Kimberlee is a connoisseur of everything wine and recently earned a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2 wine certificate. She is also passionate about fused glass art and enjoys traveling to interesting regions known for fine art and wine production.

An individual who prefers the country over the city, Kimberlee enjoys watching local wildlife ranging from deer, coyotes, and foxes to scorpions and tarantulas, among other critters. To honor the previous owner of her home, who owned and cared for a menagerie of finches, Kimberlee quickly invested in a luxury birdbath and feeder and relishes the joy of the finch’s annual homecoming.

Professional Affilations

  • Texas State Bar (No. 24116936) – admitted October 2019
  • USPTO Patent Bar (No. 75,398) – admitted September 2016

Practice Areas

Education

  • J.D., Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, cum laude
  • Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
  • M.S., Textile Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
  • B.S., Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

​

Published Work

  • Kimberlee Thompson Raley, Comment, The South Korean Patent Linkage System: A Model for Reforming the United States Hatch-Waxman Act, 33 EMORY INT’L L. REV. 459 (2019).