Sommer S. Zimmerman is a member of the Patent Group’s Life Sciences team. Her practice focuses on various aspects of patent prosecution, due diligence, and freedom to operate analysis, working primarily with clients in the life sciences, chemical, and food and beverage industries.
Sommer has over a decade of experience in domestic and international patent prosecution. She provides strategic patent counseling to technology companies, universities, and research institutions, and regularly conducts structure and prior art searches to support innovation in areas such as small molecule therapeutics, catalysts, polymers, and chemical formulations. Her work has guided clients through key stages of product and process development. Sommer has played a key role on several due diligence projects, which have successfully resulted in multi-million dollar license agreements.
Services
Professional Highlights
Professional Activities
State Bar of Georgia
Patents and Patent Publications
Co-inventor, "NMDA Receptor Modulators and Uses Related Thereto," US Patent No. 9,737,522 B2
Co-inventor, "Subunit Selective NMDA Receptor Antagonists for the Treatment of Neurological Conditions," US Patent Nos. 8,822,462 B2 and 10,273,214 B2
Recognition & Accomplishments
USPTO, Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate, 2022
Speaking Engagements
"Well It's Not Obvious to Me!: Dealing with Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Rejections in 2025," AIPLA Spring Meeting, Minneapolis, May 13, 2025
"Life After Cellect: Potential Pitfalls and Arguments," Strafford On Demand Webinar, December 12, 2024
"Potentiation of the GluN2C Containing NMDA Receptors by Pyrrolidinones, a Novel Class of Compounds," Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, October 13-17, 2012
"Design, Synthesis and Structure-Activity-Relationship of a Novel Series of GluN2C Selective Potentiators," Abstract of Papers, 244th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, August 19-23, 2012
"Potentiation of the GluN2C Containing NMDA Receptors by Pyrrolidinones, a Novel Class of Compounds," Postdoctoral Fellow Research Symposium, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, May 31, 2012
Board Memberships & Community Service
AUTM Eastern Region Planning Committee, 2021-present
Co-Editor-in-Chief of the AIPLA Chemical Practice Chronicles, 2024-present
Publications
Co-author, "A Novel Negative Allosteric Modulator Selective for GluN2C/2D-Containing NMDA Receptors Inhibits Synaptic Transmission in Hippocampal Interneurons," ACS Chem. Neurosci., 2017
Co-author, "Design, Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationship of a Novel Series of GluN2C-Selective Potentiators," J. Med. Chem., 2014
Credentials
Education
Georgia State University College of Law (J.D., 2019)
CALI Awards for Excellence in Education Law
Recipient, Certificate in Intellectual Property, 2019
Recipient, Intellectual Property Scholarship, 2016
Recipient, 20th Anniversary Scholarship, 2016
Emory University (Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 2013)
Dissertation: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Subunit-Selective-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Modulators
Florida State University (B.S., psychology and criminology, 2006; B.S., chemistry, 2008)
CALI Awards for Excellence in Education Law
Recipient, Certificate in Intellectual Property, 2019
Recipient, Intellectual Property Scholarship, 2016
Recipient, 20th Anniversary Scholarship, 2016
Emory University (Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 2013)
Dissertation: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Subunit-Selective-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Modulators
Florida State University (B.S., psychology and criminology, 2006; B.S., chemistry, 2008)
Admissions
Georgia
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office