Ron J. Laby, Patent Agent

Dr. Laby is a Scientific Advisor for Sonnenschein’s Intellectual Property & Technology Practice.

Dr. Laby has extensive experience in intellectual property matters and has written and prosecuted patent applications in areas including molecular genetics, agricultural biotechnology and medical devices.  He also has provided scientific support for patent litigation, legal opinions and interference proceedings in the areas of agricultural biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. 

Prior to his last firm, Dr. Laby was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology at Rice University, where his research focused on the role of soluble sugars as signaling molecules in plants and the interactions of sugar and hormone-mediated sensing pathways.  His other experience includes acting as a research assistant in the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell University where his work included studies of the molecular genetics of pathogenicity of plant-pathogenic bacteria.  From 1985-1987, Dr. Laby was a research associate in cell and molecular biology at Biogen Research Corporation.

• Laby, Ron J., D. Kim, and S. I. Gibson. "The ram1 Mutant of Arabidopsis Exhibits Severely Decreased ß Amylase Activity." Pl. Physiol, Vol. 127 pp. 1798-1807, 2001.  
   

• Gibson, S.I., R.J Laby, and D. Kim. "The sugar-insensitive1 (sis1) Mutant of Arabidopsis Is Allelic to ctr1." Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., Vol. 280 pp.196-203, 2001. 
        

• Laby, Ron, M.S. Kincaid, D. Kim, and S. Gibson. "The Arabidopsis sugar-insensitive mutants sis4 and sis5 are defective in abscisic acid synthesis and response." Plant Journal, Vol. 23, no. 5 pp. 587-96, Sept., 2000.   
   

• S.M. Pike, A.L. Adam, X.A. Pu, M.E. Hoyos, R. Laby, S.V. Beer, and A. Novacky. "Effects of Erwinia amylovora harpin on tobacco leaf cell membranes are related to leaf necrosis and electrolyte leakage and distinct from perturbations caused by inoculated E. amylovora." Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, Vol. 53 pp. 39-60, 1998.  
   

• Laby, Ron and Z.M. Wei, D.W. Bauer, C.H. Zumoff, S.Y. He, A. Collmer and S.V. Beer. "Harpin, elicitor of the hypersensitive response produced by the plant pathogen Erwinia amylovora." Science, Vol. 257 pp. 85-88, 1992.  
           

• Laby, Ron and S.V. Beer. "Hybridization and functional complementation of the hrp gene cluster from Erwinia amylovora strain Ea321 and DNA of other bacteria." Molecular Plant-Microbe Interact, Vol. 5 pp. 412-419, 1992.