Yoko J. Bian Ph.D.

Yoko Bian is a science advisor in the firm’s Litigation department and a member of its Intellectual Property practice. She contributes to the firm’s work in patent litigation, patent opinions, and due diligence. Yoko has worked on cases and matters including complex technologies including web-based software, 3D printing, OLED and LCD displays, telematics, and orthopaedic devices. Yoko joined the firm in 2022.

Prior to joining Goodwin, Yoko obtained her PhD in Chemistry - Nanotechnology and Materials Science from the Graduate Center, the City University of New York. Her doctoral research focuses on in silico design of proton conductive histidine-based biomimetic nanostructures. In part of Yoko’s thesis, three major helical conformations with histidine side chains including 310-, α- and π-helices were investigated as potential candidates capable of conducting protons. The structures constructed were modeled using a hybrid computational approach with a semiempirical method (AM1) for peptide scaffolds and the more accurate density functional theory (B3LYP) for the proton wires. The proton wires formed upon hydrogen bonds between ε- and δ-nitrogens were computationally evaluated based on the difference in structural properties and the proton translocation energetics.

Yoko is a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY), American Chemical Society (ACS), and American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV).

Yoko is also a member of the ChIPs Network and is a co-president of 500 Women Scientists NYC.

Yoko is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), the International Honor Society in the field of Economics, and Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) National Leadership Honor Society.

Yoko is also a member of G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance.

Yoko has presented her research at American Chemical Society National Conferences 2019, 2020 and 2021, and published scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Int. J. Quantum Chem and J. Am. Chem. Soc. She is a contributor of Big Molecule Watch, Goodwin’s blog covering legal, business and regulatory developments involving biologics, biosimilars, and the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA).

• Co-Author, “What Law Finance Group Looks for in a Litigant,” Law.com, November 14, 2023