IP Law Daily, LAW FIRM NEWS: Firms boost IP practice with new offices, new hires, (Jun 24, 2022)

By WK Editorial Staff

Several law firms announced the expansion their IP practices in recent weeks.

Several firms have recently expanded their IP practices by snagging IP practitioners from other firms. Ice Miller announced the addition of a seven-person team from BakerHostetler, while BakerHostetler added a 20-person team to the firm’s Costa Mesa office. Baker McKenzie has been named Managing IP's Global IP Firm of the Year.

Ice Miller has expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of a seven-person group joining the firm from BakerHostetler. The group currently includes four partners, two patent agents, and a professional staff member and will be based in the firm’s Washington, DC and Philadelphia offices. Kenneth Sheehan concentrates his practice on intellectual property portfolio management, acquisitions and protection. Fabian Koenigbauer is a patent attorney who helps clients secure, expand and enforce patent rights in both the U.S. and globally. He focuses on building patent portfolios for small and large molecules (biologics), analyzing freedom-to-operate issues, maximizing patent term and developing patent protection for products subject to Hatch-Waxman or biologics litigations. Jacqueline Lesser is an experienced trademark and copyright litigator in federal courts and before administrative tribunals. Lesley Grossberg focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and unfair competition litigation, and has a background in trademark clearance, prosecution, and global portfolio management.

BakerHostetlerannounced that it has added a 20-person IP team to the firm’s Costa Mesa office. The team will be led by partners Mark Itri and Michael Dreznes. The team advises on strategic IP planning, patent and trademark portfolio management, freedom-to-operate and other opinion work, and due diligence in connection with technology and trademark acquisitions. The team also negotiates and drafts technology transfer agreements, joint development agreements and licenses. Both Itri and Dreznes have a specialty in computer and electrical arts, including emerging technology areas such as machine learning and augmented reality. They help clients build strategic patent portfolios around a wide array of industry standards, including long-term evolution (LTE), 802.11x, H.266 and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA). Dreznes focuses on patent prosecution and portfolio management. Itri concentrates his practice on the preparation and prosecution of patent and trademark applications and litigation matters.

Cozen O’Connor announced that IP litigator Vanessa C. Hew has joined the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice in New York. Hew is the second Duane Morris IP attorney to join Cozen O’Conner. Gregory P. Gulia joined Cozen O’Connor earlier this year. For more than two decades, Hew has represented clients in disputes involving copyright, trademark, trade secret, counterfeiting, patent, unfair competition, and breach of contract claims. Hew has also counseled and represented various Fortune 500 companies in the consumer products, media, personal care, food and beverage, and fashion industries such as Unilever, Walmart, Meta, Ikea, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Bon Ton Stores on various IP related issues. Hew has worked on numerous high-profile media cases, including a case of first impression for MP3tunes.com over whether the storage of music in the cloud violated copyrights in certain musical compositions or sound recordings.

Wilkinson Barker Knauer has added trademark attorney Belinda Scrimenti as a Partner in the firm’s Washington, DC, office. With over 35 years of experience in intellectual property rights, Scrimenti protects IP rights at all stages of a brand’s life cycle, from counseling and clearance to trademark prosecution, enforcement, and litigation. Her litigation experience includes cases involving trademarks and copyrights in more than 40 federal court districts and divisions, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She also has extensive experience protecting non-traditional marks on a global scale, including single-color, sound, and motion marks.

DLA Piper has added Intellectual Property and Technology partner J. Kevin Fee to its Washington, DC office. Fee’s practice focuses on trademark, copyright, false advertising, and trade secret litigation. Fee has represented financial institutions, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, consumer products manufacturers, retailers, internet companies, and food and beverage companies through his trademark and false advertising practice. He also represents major publishers, standards development organizations, financial institutions, insurance companies, and software developers in copyright litigation.

Pillsbury has expanded its patent practice with the addition of Chris Drymalla as a partner in Austin, Texas. Drymalla focuses his practice on providing clients with comprehensive IP strategies to develop, manage and protect IP assets, including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret rights. He has represented a variety of technology and energy sector companies in patent prosecution and litigation matters. Drymalla joins Pillsbury from Bracewell.

Shumaker has welcomed Senior Attorney Brenda Kruse to the ranks as a member of the firm’s IP and Technology Service Line. Her practice consists of counseling large and small clients to develop, maintain, and enforce their IP portfolios. Kruse has a diverse range of experience, including preparing and prosecuting foreign and domestic patent and trademark applications, providing infringement and validity opinions, and conducting due diligence and patent landscape analyses.

Global law firm Baker McKenzie has been named Managing IP's Global IP Firm of the Year, the firm announced. The award was presented by Managing IP at a ceremony on June 15, 2022 at the Royal Lancaster London. Baker McKenzie was also presented as the winner of the Switzerland Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year award. The full list of firms, in-house law departments, and individuals recognized by Managing IP at its EMEA IP ceremony is available here.

Attorneys: Mark Itri and Michael Dreznes (BakerHostetler LLP). Vanessa C. Hew (Cozen O’Connor). J. Kevin Fee (DLA Piper). Lesley Grossberg, Fabian Koenigbauer, Jacqueline Lesser and Kenneth Sheehan (Ice Miller LLP). Chris Drymalla (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP). Belinda J. Scrimenti (Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP). Brenda Kruse (Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP). (Baker McKenzie).

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