Richard Gearhart, Esq. is a life sciences intellectual property attorney and the Founding Partner of Gearhart Law, LLC, where he advises pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and health-technology companies on patents, trademarks, licensing, and IP-driven commercialization strategy. With over three decades of experience, Richard helps founders, executives, and investors align intellectual property portfolios with fundraising, regulatory pathways, competitive positioning, and long-term enterprise value. A trained chemist and former senior in-house IP leader in the life sciences industry, he brings deep domain fluency to complex scientific and business challenges. He is also an active angel investor and a member of several investor groups, providing clients with a first-hand investor perspective on risk, valuation, and growth.
Before founding Gearhart Law, Richard held senior in-house and international roles at leading global organizations. He served as head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark group for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, overseeing a large team of attorneys and managing global litigation, prosecution, and strategic counseling across product development and transactions including FDA approved products such as Gleevec®.
He previously served as General Patent Counsel at CIBA Vision, where he managed U.S. and international patent activity and worked with FDA approved products such as Focus Night and Day® and Dailies®. He also initiated and managed Wesley Jessen Corp. v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc., resulting in an injunction and removal of an infringing product from the market. Earlier in his career, Richard held senior counsel roles at Dow Corning and practiced internationally with Jones Day in Geneva, Switzerland.
Richard is deeply engaged in entrepreneurship, innovation, and emerging technologies beyond his legal practice. He co-hosts Passage to Profit – Road to Entrepreneurship, a nationally syndicated radio show having over 60,000 listeners per episode that features entrepreneurs, inventors, and business leaders, translating real-world business challenges into practical insights—often with a focus on intellectual property and commercialization strategy.
He plays an active leadership role in the academic and healthcare innovation ecosystem, and is a Member of the Rutgers Health Leadership Council, also serving as Chair of the Investment & Entrepreneurship Committee, where he supports innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurial initiatives across Rutgers Health.
Richard is actively pursuing a professional certificate from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Artificial Intelligence for Pharma and Biotech, reflecting his focus on how AI is reshaping drug discovery, development, and commercialization. He has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School and studied abroad at the University of Oxford (summer abroad).
Richard earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Knox College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a postgraduate DES in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. He is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is admitted in New Jersey as well as before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
