Justin Culbertson, Ph.D.

Justin Culbertson is a partner in our Washington, D.C., office. His practice specializes in client counseling, opinion and due diligence work, and global patent portfolio management across the chemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and biotechnology industries.

Justin advises and counsels startup companies in developing their core IP portfolios and navigating complex patent landscapes relevant to their technologies.  He also supports established companies by crafting strategies to develop, leverage, and enforce their IP assets effectively. Justin brings extensive experience in international patent prosecution, having managed applications in over 40 jurisdictions worldwide. His expertise extends to diagnostics, cosmetics, medical devices, next-generation sequencing, and molecular biology.

In addition to his legal practice, Justin serves as an adjunct professor at Long Island University School of Pharmacy, where he teaches “Patent Law and the Pharmaceutical Industry.”

Before joining Knobbe Martens, Justin earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. During law school, he participated in an IP clinic assisting student inventors and a mortgage foreclosure clinic helping families retain their homes. Concurrently, he taught organic chemistry at Parkland College.

Justin holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. His graduate research focused on designing and evaluating small molecule inhibitors targeting chorismate-utilizing enzymes, equipping him with deep expertise in small molecule synthesis, molecular biology, protein engineering, and x-ray crystallography. Between graduate school and his undergraduate studies, he gained industry experience working at GlaxoSmithKline, where he synthesized vaccine adjuvants.

Justin rejoined the firm in 2019 after working at a large general practice firm.