Paula Estrada de Martin Ph.D.

Dr. Estrada de Martin was formerly with WilmerHale in New York and was adjunct faculty at New York Law School, where she served as the patent law mentor in the IP Jobtrack at the Institute for Information Law and Policy.

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Dr. Estrada de Martin was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Ophthalmology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where she investigated the sorting and targeting of apical membrane proteins in RPE and MDCK cells in the laboratory of Dr. Enrique Rodriguez-Boulan. In the summer of 1997, Dr. Estrada de Martin interned at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. From 1998 to 2004, she served as a teaching assistant at Yale University while pursuing her graduate studies.

Dr. Estrada de Martin's technical skills encompass genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology and cell biology. The author and co-author of several publications, she has also presented posters at scientific meetings and conferences. She is fluent in Spanish.

• Successfully represented an institution dedicated to cancer research in a district court action, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which ruled that the America Invents Act (AIA) eliminated district court reviews of patent interferences declared after September 15, 2012.

• Successfully represented an institution dedicated to cancer research in a U.S. patent interference involving recombinant Interferon-beta polypeptide.

• Successfully represented an institution dedicated to cancer research in a U.S. patent interference involving recombinant mature Interferon-beta molecules.

• Listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America for Intellectual Property Law (2021 – 2024)
• Selected to Louisiana Rising Stars (2018 – 2021)
• Recognized as a 2019 New Orleans CityBusiness Women of the Year
• Named to Profiles in Diversity's "Women Worth Watching 2018"
• Named to New Orleans Magazine's "Top Women in Law" list in Biotechnology Law (2025)
• Recognized as a "Top Lawyer" in Biotechnology Law by New Orleans Magazine (2019, 2022 – 2025)
• Recognized as a "Top Lawyer" in Intellectual Property Law by New Orleans Magazine (2017, 2023)
• Past Co-chair, New York State Bar Association IP Law Section Pro Bono Committee
• 2014 California State University, San Bernardino Outstanding Alumna for the College of Natural Sciences
• American Society for Cell Biology
• New York Academy of Sciences
• New York Intellectual Property Law Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• National Hispanic Bar Association
• Board Member – Propeller
• Nominee – 2017 Ada Lovelace Award 

Recombinant DNA, sequencing technologies, engineered cell systems, organoids and culturing systems, engineered microorganisms, antibodies (e.g., monoclonal, humanized, bispecific, multispecific), antibody engineering, antibody display technologies, biologics, nucleic acid and protein therapeutics (e.g., chimeric and fusion proteins), chimeric antigen receptors (CAR)-T cell technologies and therapy, gene therapy, vaccines (e.g., peptide and mRNA), siRNA, stem cell technologies, plant varieties, viruses, pharmaceutical formulations, disease biomarkers, and treatments and diagnostic methods for immune, proliferative, infectious, cardiac, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases.

• "Regents of the University of Minnesota v. Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Addressing Laundry Lists in U.S. Patents," New Orleans Bar Association Blog (March 2023)
• "When Big Brother Comes Marching In: Patent Challenges on Entrepreneurial Campuses," IPWatchdog® (November 2017)
• "USPTO Seeks Public Comment Regarding Subject-Matter Eligibility," IAM Weekly International Reports (November 2016)
• "Updated PTO Guidance for Biotech Claims," IAM Weekly International Reports (May 2016)
• "Louisiana Life Sciences Survey Indicates Continued Growth," IAM Weekly International Reports (February 2016)

• "§101 Woes and Solution," Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts (November 2018)
• "Technology Commercialization: A synergy between Science, Business and Law," LSU Health Sciences Center (April 2018)
• Responsible Conduct of Research Seminar on Intellectual Property, Pennington Biomedical Research Center (April 2018)
• "The State of Tech and Patent Legislation in 2018," Invention and Innovation in Congress Forum, Louisiana State University (March 2018)
• Panelist – Biotech & Cannabis Industry Panel, Turnaround Management Association of Louisiana (November 2017)
• Moderator – "Intellectual Property Pitfalls and Q&A with the Patent and Trademark Office," 2017 Louisiana Life Sciences and Technology Symposium (September 2017)
• "What Can be Patented and Who's an Inventor?," LSUHSC Neuroscience Center of Excellence (June 2017)
• "Critical Issues in Licensing University Technologies," New Orleans BioInnovation Center (August 2016)
• "University Patent Applications: To Be or Not To Be…a 'Micro Entity'," Network of Technology Transfer Professionals of Louisiana (July 2016)
• "Occupation: Patent Lawyer, A Symbiosis of Law and Science," Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (April 2016)
• "Patenting Biological Materials," Louisiana State University Intellectual Property Seminar Series (March 2016)
• Panelist – "Commercialization of University Research," Louisiana University Technology Showcase (November 2015)
• "Intellectual Property in the Biosciences," Innovation Louisiana 2015 (November 2015)
• "Patent Law Landscape – Recent Shifts and What You Need to Know," New Orleans BioInnovation Center (June 2015)

• Baker Donelson Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2024 Listing (August 17, 2023)
• Baker Donelson Attorneys Earn Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023 Listing (August 18, 2022)
• Baker Donelson Attorneys Earn Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® 2022 Listing (August 19, 2021)

• Paula Estrada de Martin Talks with Law360 About Baker Donelson's Involvement in AbbVie IP Legal Academy at Southern University Law Center (January 23, 2023)
• Paula Estrada de Martin Featured Among New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law 2021 Honorees (October 12, 2021)