Practitioner Profiles

Bell & Associates is a patent law firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded by two British patent practitioners, Adam Bell and Matthew Kaser. We practice US and international patent law and work extensively with clients in both the United States and Britain.

Adam Warwick Bell

Adam Bell holds a doctorate (D.Phil.) in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford (1994). He received his law degree from The University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco (1997). He practiced patent law with the Oregon firm of Klarquist Sparkman et al., and subsequently served as patent counsel at Incyte Genomics, and Durect Corporation (a medical devices company). Dr. Bell has served as scientific advisor to two biotech equity funds and currently serves as an advisor to Davis Bioscience Group and Nutragenomics Inc. From 1999-2001 he served on the board and as corporate secretary for the USPTO's Patent and Trademark Depository Library in California. He also teaches patent administration. Dr. Bell is admitted to practice law in California and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Richard C. Ekstrom

Richard Ekstrom holds a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Illinois State University. Dr. Ekstrom started his career in patent law by working as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It was during this time that he started law school, ultimately receiving his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. After leaving the Patent Office, Dr. Ekstrom practiced patent law with the Virginia firm of Burns Doane et al., and subsequently served as corporate patent counsel at Incyte Genomics and Chiron. Dr. Ekstrom then worked with the general practice firm of Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney before joining Bell & Associates. Dr. Ekstrom is admitted to practice law in California and Virginia, and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Matthew R. Kaser

Matthew Kaser received his doctorate (D.Phil.) in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford in 1988. He also holds a B.Sc. (Zoology) and M.Sc. (Biochemistry) from the University of Wales. After post-doctoral positions at the University of California and the University of Texas, Dr. Kaser held a post-doctoral fellowship in Molecular Endocrinology at the REI Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He later held a faculty position at the UCSF Department of Pediatrics, and then served as a scientist at Incyte Genomics. Dr. Kaser has been practicing as a patent agent since 1999, first at Incyte, and then as Associate Director of Intellectual Property at Mendel Biotechnology. He is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Academic Qualifications & Publications.