Lica Colwell

Angelica ("Lica") M. Colwell practices in the Business Litigation Group, where she focuses on intellectual property litigation and other litigation involving complex medical issues.  She has a significant educational and practice background in the medical field.  She is also a registered patent attorney and does patent and trademark prosecution. 

Ms. Colwell is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology and a Master of Science in Microbiology.  Her research for her Master’s degree focused upon the response of macrophages to intracellular infection with Chlamydia psittaci, a bacterial parasite that primarily infects birds but has also crossed over into humans. Research findings reported in her thesis, entitled “Characterization of Chlamydia psittaci-induced Indoleamine 2, 3 dioxygenase in Human Monocyte-derived Macrophage Cultures,” were published in the journal Infection and Immunity, Vol. 62, No. 4, in April 1994.

After earning her M.S., Ms. Colwell did medical research for immunology professors at the Medical College of Ohio, now Medical University of Ohio, in Toledo, Ohio, and assisted with teaching microbiology courses to medical students.

Ms. Colwell came to Nexsen Pruet from Marshall & Melhorn, LLC in Toledo, Ohio, where she gained extensive experience in the defense of medical malpractice claims brought against physicians, hospitals, and other health care practitioners and facilities.  At Nexsen Pruet, she has continued to work on complex cases involving medical issues, including medical device, pharmaceutical, and catastrophic injury cases.

Professional Highlights:

• Charleston County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Council, Board Member (2008-2010), Board Chair (2009-2010)
• Leadership Charleston Class of 2009
• Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem for Charleston County 

• Represented a South Carolina amusement park with Cherie Blackburn and prevented a former owner of the park from obtaining a temporary injunction to close the park for alleged trade dress violations.  The favorable ruling kept the park’s opening on schedule and kept several hundred South Carolinians employed.
• Maintains the intellectual property portfolios for several large corporations in South Carolina, representing the companies before the USPTO.
• Successfully prosecuted patent applications on behalf of individual inventors in front of the USPTO.
• Represented a large chemical manufacturer in an appeal of an interference decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and was able to get a matter that had been pending for six years finally dismissed without any payment of costs or fees to the opposing party.
• Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a family practice physician alleged to have negligently charted an incorrect diagnosis of drug use in a patient’s medical record.  Ms. Colwell then handled an appeal of the decision filed by the plaintiff, including writing of the brief and the oral argument.  The decision was affirmed.
• Successfully defended an orthopedic surgeon against claims of medical negligence alleged in connection with the surgeon’s repair of a slipped capital femoral epiphysis in a teenaged patient.  Following the trial, Ms. Colwell handled an appeal of the verdict filed by the plaintiff, including writing of the brief and the oral argument.  The verdict was affirmed.
• Other first chair trial experience includes a defense verdict for an ob/gyn sued for complications appearing after a hysterectomy and defense of a general surgeon alleged to have negligently managed a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC line) used to keep a patient alive solely on parenteral nutrition for twelve years.
• Defended several cases alleging negligence in the use of medical devices such as trocars used in laparoscopic surgeries, pain medication delivery pumps, and peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines).
• Handled the brief writing and oral arguments for several appeals of decisions rendered in medical malpractice claims. 

• Client Alert: Act Now To Protect Trademarks On Facebook
  The popular social networking site Facebook recently announced that starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on June 13, users could create personalized URLs for their pages. This poses a potential threat to trademark owners, who should act immediately to protect their rights.
• Intellectual Property Group Recognized in Leading Trade Publication
  Nexsen Pruet announced today that it has been recognized in “Who Protects Innovation in America 2008” by IP Law & Business.
• Attorney Named to Leadership Charleston Class of 2009
  CHARLESTON, SC – Angelica (“Lica”) Colwell, an attorney in Nexsen Pruet’s Charleston office, has been selected for the Leadership Charleston class of 2009.
• Nexsen Pruet Expands IP Practice With Addition Of Lica Colwell in Charleston
  Nexsen Pruet, LLC has expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of Angelica "Lica" Colwell to the firm's Charleston, S.C., office.

• LightSwitch - Intellectual Property Law Bulletin
  This edition contains the following articles:

  - Court Applies "Reasonableness" Standard to Invention Assignment

  - I Lost Fifty Pounds Using This Product!!!

  - Why Should Cash-Strapped Start-Up Companies Spend Money on IP Attorneys?

• LightSwitch - Intellectual Property Law Bulletin
  This edition contains the following articles:
  - South Carolina and The Wind Energy Debate
  - Virtual Mediation
  - Damages in Patent Cases
  - Liability Risks for Corporate Networking Websites
  
• LightSwitch - Intellectual Property Law Bulletin
  This edition contains articles related to:
  
  1. Trademark Protection in NC Under State Statutes
  2. Using a Trademark in Commerce
  3. Damages in Patent Cases, Part 2 of 3
  
• LightSwitch - Intellectual Property Law Bulletin
  This edition contains articles related to:
  
  1) The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (a.k.a. PRO-IP Act)
  2) Damages in Patent Cases, Part 1 of 3
  3) Non-traditional Trademarks and Servicemarks
• Human Tissue Litigation: Where is the Injury?
  Val H. Stieglitz & Angelica M. Colwell co-authored an article published in International Association of Defense Counsel Committee Newsletter, No. 9 entitled Human Tissue Litigation: Where is the Injury? (March 2007).

Intellectual Property for Small Business Owners at Conway Chamber of Commerce and for FASTrac class - June, 2008

Trademarks, Copyrights and Licensing for the Charleston Digital Corridor’s “Friday’s At the Corridor” Series - April, 2006

Intellectual Property Concepts for Non-Intellectual Property Lawyers at the South Carolina annual bar convention, Charleston, SC - January, 2005