Melissa S. Ruiz is an associate at Jackson Walker. Melissa focuses her practice in intellectual property law and has a passion for patent litigation. She is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a patent holder, and has a demonstrated history of product development in the software and regenerative medicine industries.
Melissa attended the University of Texas at Austin where she investigated nanoparticle-cellular interactions for cancer research. She was a research intern for Baylor College of Medicine and studied the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on cardiac function in mice. She was also an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Texas Laboratory for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering and is a published author for the development of a stem cell hydrogel for wound healing.
After graduating with a BS in Biomedical Engineering, Melissa began her career as a product development engineer at a stem cell company and a digital health technology start-up in Austin, Texas. She performed FDA testing and validation of products under development, obtained FDA approval and CE certification for various devices, designed product manufacturing procedures, and managed the patent and trademark dockets. Melissa has expertise in the following fields: medical devices, computer/software, nanotechnology, molecular biology, tissue engineering, and biotechnology.
Melissa started her second career by attending Baylor Law School, where she received the Dean’s Academic Excellence Award Scholarship each year. During law school, Melissa served as a judicial intern to the United States Federal District Judge Alan D Albright of the Western District of Texas Waco Division. She also represented Baylor in the National Health Law Moot Court Competition in Fall 2020. Melissa was a Patent Agent for the Baylor Law Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic, where she worked with clients to draft their patent and trademark applications. Additionally, Melissa was a Summer Associate for Husch Blackwell, where she researched and assisted attorneys in the following practice areas: patent law, trademark law, intellectual property litigation, commercial litigation, healthcare & regulatory law, and property law.