Valerie L. Sarigumba
Academic and Professional Credentials
Loyola University Chicago, J.D., 2004
• Features Editor and Technology Staff Writer, Public Interest Law Reporter
• Student Bar Association Vice-President (2003)
North Carolina State University, B.S. Chemical Engineering (Biosciences option), 1997
• National Merit Scholar
• John T. Caldwell Scholar
Oxford University, Study Abroad Program, 1994
Admitted to California and Illinois State Bars
Registered Patent Attorney, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Admitted to U.S. District Courts (Central District California, Northern District Illinois)
Ms. Sarigumba is a member of the American Bar Association, the Orange County Patent Law Association, and the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago.
Publications
Striking the Balance: Pharmaceutical Patent Value and Consumer Availability, Loyola University Chicago's Public Interest Law Reporter, Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter 2003, p. 15 [discussing current patent issues concerning pending federal legislation and the state of the pharmaceutical industry].
Digital Regulation and the Impact on Education, Loyola University Chicago's Public Interest Law Reporter, Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall 2002, p. 9 [discussing current conflicts between the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and education systems].
Background and Experience
Ms. Sarigumba was a Production Manager and Engineer for a Fortune 100 consumer goods company prior to attending law school. During that time, Ms. Sarigumba assisted with the development of proprietary processes while managing a multimillion-dollar paper production operation. Ms. Sarigumba was deeply involved in both the daily and long-term management of large-scale production processes and worked extensively with other engineers and researchers on new process and product developments, as well as analytical troubleshooting and improvement efforts.
During law school, Ms. Sarigumba served as a clerk for the Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago, where she assisted with a wide range of civil litigation cases. She was also selected for an internship in the R&D division of one of the world's largest industrial gas companies, and collaborated with inventors and in-house counsel in various stages of patent prosecution. Ms. Sarigumba built further upon her intellectual property experience at a small firm in the Chicago area, where she was involved in a variety of intellectual property matters. After moving to California, she joined Cohen Sakaguchi & English (now Vista IP Law Group) as an associate, where she continues her IP practice.