Professional Experience
As an associate at Kinney & Lange, Alexander focuses his practice on patent law, including drafting and prosecuting patent applications, conducting freedom-to-operate studies, and conducting patentability studies. Alexander has experience working with clients of all sizes, from individual inventors up to multinational corporations.
Alexander received his Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota, magna cum laude. While in law school, Alexander was the lead articles editor for the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. He also authored a published an article concerning the patent eligibility of certain siRNA technologies. Additionally, he worked as a research assistant for Professor Oren Gross, an internationally recognized expert in the areas of international law and national security law, to investigate international law issues related to potential applications of neuroscience and biotechnology in warfare. Alexander is also a Rule 114 qualified neutral and worked in the Community Mediation Clinic, a comprehensive mediation clinic run by the University of Minnesota and the Conflict Resolution Center.
Prior to law school, Alexander earned a PhD in molecular biosciences and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Washington State University. His graduate work focused on the structural characterization and functional engineering of enzymes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in Sorghum bicolor. During graduate school, he had an active interest in science pedagogy and taught courses on bioinformatics, enzyme kinetics, and protein purification in both laboratory and lecture settings. After completing his graduate work, Alexander worked briefly in an academic laboratory investigating the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi.
In his free time, Alexander enjoys live music, playing guitar and piano, crate-digging for vinyl records, and late-night sessions of Dungeons & Dragons.
Publications
- Silencing Innovation: The Patent Eligibility of siRNA Therapeutics, Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology, Vol. 21, Issue 2 (2020).
- Walker AM, Sattler SA, Regner M, Jones JP, Ralph J, Vermerris W, Sattler SE, Kang CH (2016) The structure and catalytic mechanism of Sorghum bicolor caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase. Plant Physiol 172: 78-92.
- Walker AM, Hayes RP, Youn B, Vermerris W, Sattler SE, Kang CH (2013) Elucidation of the structure and reaction mechanism of sorghum hydroxycinnamoyltransferase and its structural relationship to other coenzyme A-dependent transferases and synthases. Plant Physiol 162: 640-51.
- Peacock RB, Hicks CW, Walker AM, Dewing SM, Lewis KM, Abboud JC, Stewart SWA, Kang CH, Watson JM (2019) Structural and Functional Characterization of Dynamic Oligomerization in Burkholderia cenocepacia HMG-CoA Reductase. Biochemistry 58: 3960–70.
- Jun SY, Walker AM, Kim H, Ralph J, Vermerris W, Sattler SE, Kang CH (2017) The enzyme activity and substrate specificity of two major cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), SbCAD2 and SbCAD4. Plant Physiol 174: 2128-45.
- Sattler SA, Walker AM, Vermerris W, Sattler SE, Kang CH (2016) Structural and biochemical characterization of cinnamoyl-CoA reductases. Plant Physiol 173: 1031-44.
Selected Presentations (Scientific)
- Structural and enzymatic characterization of the Sorghum bicolor monolignol biosynthesis pathway. Northwest Crystallography Workshop, WSU, Pullman, WA. June 18, 2016.
- Enzymatic and structural characterization of the Sorghum bicolor phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway. Western Regional Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists, WSU, Pullman, WA. June 27, 2015.
- Characterization of the Hydroxycinnamoyl Transferase and Caffeoyl O-methyl Transferase from Sorghum bicolor. Northwest Crystallography Workshop, OSU, Beaverton, OR. June 21, 2014.
- Lignin Biosynthesis of Sorghum bicolor. Molecular Plant Sciences Retreat, WSU, Pullman, WA. March 1, 2014.
Representative Matters
- Prepared and prosecuted patent applications, including PCT and foreign counterparts, on a variety of technologies on behalf of multi-national corporations, medium-sized businesses, small businesses and individual inventors
- Conducted freedom-to-operate studies on a variety of technologies, advised client regarding risk management and patent avoidance strategies, and prepared associated opinions of counsel