Professionals
Practice Areas
- Automotive Practice
- Chemical and Material Sciences Practice
- Patents
- Foreign & PCT Patent Filing
- Utility, Design, and Plant Patent Filing with the USPTO
- Product Clearance
- IP Transactional
- Licensing
- Technology Transfer
- Transfers, Mergers, Acquisitions, Bankruptcies and Securitizations
- Opinions
- Invalidity Opinions
- Non-infringement Opinions
- Patentability Opinions
- Right to Practice Opinions
- Strategic IP Portfolio Development and Management
- Trade Secrets
- Patent Landscaping and Risk Analysis
Technologies
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry
- Pharmaceuticals & Pharmaceutical Formulation
- Polymer & Materials Science
- Semiconductor Devices & Processing Methods
Honors
- Best Lawyers, Women in the Law, 2024
Best Lawyers, 2023-2025
Top Corporate Counsel, Class of 2015, dbusiness
Admissions
- Michigan State Bar, 1998
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1994
Education
The Ohio State University College of Law, J.D., 1993
- Order of the Coif
- Law Review
Michigan State University, B.S. Chemical Engineering, 1988
- Honors College
- Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
- Society of Women Engineers Top Female Engineering Student
- Alumni Distinguished Scholarship
- National Merit
Susan Zerull joined Cantor Colburn after 25 years as in-house counsel at The Dow Chemical Company, Imation, and 3M. Her practice concentrates on patent procurement, developing intellectual property strategies, and complex intellectual property transactions. She brings a pragmatic, business focused, and global view to her practice. Susan’s technical areas of expertise include polymers, electronic materials and devices (including dielectric materials, methods of integrated circuit manufacture, photolithography, chemical mechanical polishing, molecules for organic light emitting diodes), photovoltaics, solar modules, small molecules, chemical formulations, chemical processes, pharmaceuticals (particularly RSMs and APIs), and materials for automotive and transportation applications.
Experience Highlights
Counsel, Cantor Colburn, 2018-present
Managing Counsel, IP Law, The Dow Chemical Company, 1998-2018
Patent Attorney, Imation, 1996-1998
Patent Attorney, 3M, 1993-1996
Research Engineer, The Dow Chemical Company, 1988-1990
News
Cantor Colburn has been named a Tier 1 firm in Hartford for Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Litigation - Patent, and Litigation - Intellectual Property Practice in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.
- Best Lawyers
Cantor Colburn is proud to announce that the following attorneys are recognized as 2025 Best Lawyers: Christopher C. Boehm, David Bomzer, Alison Caless, Michael A. Cantor, Michelle P. Ciotola, Philmore H. Colburn II, Steven M. Coyle, Nicholas A. Geiger, Charles F. O'Brien, Roberta L. Pelletier, Leah M. Reimer, Ph.D., David E. Rodrigues, Ph.D., Michael J. Rye, Bryan D. Zerhusen, Ph.D., Susan M. Zerull. Michael Cantor is a Best Lawyer Lawyer of the Year.
- June 11, 2024
The Best Lawyers in America has named Cantor Colburn's Ali Caless, Michelle Ciotola, and Susan Zerull to its 2024 Women in the Law, published in the Spring 2024 edition. It includes all the women lawyers recognized in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in America.
- August 17, 2023
Cantor Colburn is proud to announce that the following attorneys are recognized as 2024 Best Lawyers: Michael Cantor, Michelle Ciotola, Phil Colburn, Steve Coyle, Todd Garabedian, Ph.D., David Rodrigues, Ph.D., Mike Rye, and Susan Zerull. Ali Caless is Best Lawyers: One to Watch.
- December 3, 2018
Susan M. Zerull, in-house counsel at The Dow Chemical Company for 25 years, joins Cantor Colburn as Counsel in its Detroit office.
Events
- June 15, 2023Boston
The 2023 Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (NERM 2023) will be organized by NESACS and will be hosted at Northeastern University in Boston. An all-star panel from Cantor Colburn LLP will discuss patent protection for innovative products or processes, which excludes others from making and selling the same products or using the same processes, can be critical to the profitability of tech companies. Cantor Colburn is proud to sponsor this meeting.
- October 11, 2022
Susan Zerull will be a panelist for the webinar "University Technology Transfer and Licensing Agreements" on October 11, 2022 from 1:00-2:30pm EDT, presented by Strafford. This CLE course will guide counsel in drafting university technology transfer and licensing agreements. The panel will discuss key contract clauses and best practices for negotiating the agreements and avoiding pitfalls unique to the university context. Susan is Counsel in the firm's Detroit office. She joined Cantor Colburn after 25 years as in-house counsel at The Dow Chemical Company, Imation, and 3M.
- March 22, 2022San Diego, California
Susan Zerull will speak at the Spring 2022 National Meeting: Bonding through Chemistry on March 22, 2022. Her topic is, "Intellectual Property Strategy as a Critical Component of Investment Protection and Value Creation."
Professional Affiliations
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)
SEMI
