Kenneth O. Aruda, Ph.D.
Primary Areas of Practice
Overview
Ken Aruda represents clients in complex patent litigation and prosecution matters spanning the pharmaceutical, life sciences, and deep technology sectors. With a decade of experience at the intersection of intellectual property law and scientific innovation, Ken combines legal analysis with a deep technical background to help clients protect, defend, and maximize the value of their innovations.
Ken’s litigation practice focuses on pharmaceutical patent disputes, particularly Hatch-Waxman disputes involving complex, multi-patent and multi-defendant ANDA matters. In parallel, Ken counsels clients on patent prosecution and portfolio development, managing U.S. and international patent matters across a broad range of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, electrochemistry, software, and emerging technologies.
Ken brings an interdisciplinary scientific perspective to his practice. He earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Northwestern University, building on undergraduate double majors in Honors Chemistry and Physics from Boston College. Ken's interest in intellectual property took root while at Northwestern University. Through an executive-education program that let science graduate students work directly with the university's patented research, he helped evaluate the commercial and IP landscape for a professor's hydrolysis catalyst technology, weighing a potential water-purification venture. His interest in patents predates even that: his father, also a scientist and patent holder who launched his own company, gave Ken an early, firsthand view of the field. A view and an interest that led to an internship at an IP law firm while still in high school.
After graduate school, Ken went on to work as a Technical Specialist at two New England-based IP firms, drafting patent applications and prosecuting international portfolios across software, small molecules, and electrochemistry, and contributing to high-profile matters including the CRISPR Doudna/Zhang interference. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, attending while continuing to work. While at Georgetown, he also served as a Legal Fellow at EqualAI, researching federal regulation of AI bias and accountability.
Most recently, Ken was an associate in the Washington office of a national IP firm, where he represented pharmaceutical clients in Hatch-Waxman litigation, including complex multi-patent, multi-defendant ANDA matters, drafting dispositive motions, claim construction briefs, and invalidity contentions, while also serving as primary attorney on U.S. and foreign prosecution matters for pharmaceutical clients.
Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Northwestern University
B.S., Chemistry and Physics, Boston College
Bar & Court Admissions
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia