Press Releases

CHICAGO - Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the United States, is pleased to announce its newly-named practice group chairs for 2008. The new chairs are:

Meredith Martin Addy, chair, Appellate Group. Ms. Addy focuses on patent litigation and appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Last year, she represented clients in three of IPO Daily News™ List of the Top 13 Patent Cases of 2007. Ms. Addy has litigation experience in the electrical, chemical, biotech, and pharmaceutical arts. She is active at the Federal Circuit both as counsel and as a member of the Federal Circuit Advisory Council. The sixteen-member Advisory Council works closely with the court on policy and operations. Recently, Ms. Addy was named as one of the "Top 10 Illinois Super Lawyers" across all practice areas for 2008. She serves as president of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court. Ms. Addy is chair of the Amicus Committee for the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Glen P. Belvis, chair, Interference Group. Glen Belvis' practice encompasses all facets of intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and related antitrust matters. He has substantial interference and patent litigation experience, including bench and jury trials, appeals before the Federal Circuit, and alternate dispute resolutions, and has participated in several multinational litigations involving related patent lawsuits in the U.K., Europe, China, Japan, Canada and the United States. He has been recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer and as a Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer in the Leading Lawyers Network. He is a Master in the Richard Linn Inn of Court and is the vice president of the DePaul Law School IP Advisory Board.

Timothy Q. Delaney, chair, Patent Litigation. Mr. Delaney's practice concentrates on litigation. He has held first and second chair responsibility at several trials. He has participated in numerous appeals to Federal Circuit and other federal and state appellate courts. Mr. Delaney's practice also includes patent prosecution and counseling.

Margaret A. Dobrowitsky, chair, Licensing Group. Ms. Dobrowitsky has twelve years of experience in the fields of intellectual property and general business law, including roles as senior patent counsel for a major U.S. corporation's business operations, intellectual property counsel for its Mergers and Acquisitions business group, intellectual property counsel for its Information Technology and Telecommunications Group, patent counsel for its extensive Mexican operations, and general legal support for its Mexican General Counsel. Her expertise includes drafting and negotiating domestic and international technology transfer agreements, joint venture agreements, asset purchase and supply agreements, engineering and software development agreements, information technology and telecommunications agreements, software license agreements, patent and know-how licenses, performing patent prosecution in the electrical and mechanical arts before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and, as in-house counsel, supervising outside counsel in performing patent prosecution, preparing as in-house counsel and supervising outside counsel in preparing non-infringement, design-around, and validity studies and opinions.

William H. Frankel, chair, Copyright Group. Mr. Frankel's practice includes patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets and unfair competition litigation in jury and bench trials, international intellectual property litigation and counseling, and licensing. He has represented domestic and multinational clients in federal courts, before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, before the International Trade Commission and in alternative dispute resolution forums in connection with injunction, Markman trial, contempt and appellate proceedings. He has counseled clients in the evaluation, protection, procurement, and transfer of intellectual property rights, including providing legal expertise in worldwide patent protection and the coordination of legal strategies in global intellectual property disputes. Mr. Frankel also has served as a mediator in patent, trademark and trade secret litigation disputes. Mr. Frankel has written, spoken and lectured on copyrights, trademarks, patents, IP litigation, and IP corporate compliance programs and audits, and has taught patent law as an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Law. He is a co-author of West Group's Designing an Effective Intellectual Property Compliance Program and is a co-author of the 2005 Intellectual Property Handbook, published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. In addition, Mr. Frankel is the president of Lawyers for the Creative Arts, an association that provides pro bono legal services to organizations and individuals in all areas of the arts - visual, literary, performance and entertainment.

John C. Freeman, chair, International Patents. Mr. Freeman's practice consists of consulting with clients regarding a broad range of intellectual property matters, including patent infringement issues, licensing issues and preparation and prosecution of domestic and international patent applications in the electro-mechanical arts.

John T. Gabrielides, chair, Anti-counterfeiting Group. Mr. Gabrielides' practice includes all aspects of trademark, unfair competition, false advertising and copyright law, including litigation before federal courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also has experience in counseling, licensing and litigation relating to patents.

Kent E. Genin, chair, U.S. Patent Prosecution. Mr. Genin's practice includes both patent prosecution and litigation. As a licensed patent attorney with a background in electrical engineering, Mr. Genin is responsible for development and management of patent portfolios including prosecution, supervision, and preparation of patent applications. His work has involved a wide variety of technologies and business areas, including telecommunications systems, software, business methods, medical devices, automotive technology, and manufacturing equipment. He also counsels clients regarding patentability, validity, infringement and licensing issues.

Jeffery A. Handelman, chair, Trademark Litigation. Mr. Handelman focuses on trademark, unfair competition, trade dress, dilution, false advertising, copyright, trade secret and licensing matters. He also is involved in Internet-related litigation and counseling. He joined Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione in 1984 and in addition to chairing the Trademark Group, has served on the firm's Board of Directors and its Executive, Long Range Strategic Planning and Conflicts Committees. Mr. Handelman has recently published a treatise entitled Guide to TTAB Practice. This publication takes the practitioner step-by-step through a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceeding, from the beginning of a case to its final resolution.

Richard A. Kaplan, chair, Trade Secret Group. Mr. Kaplan is a trial lawyer specializing in patent, trade secret and related antitrust, unfair competition and contract matters. He has extensive experience in the litigation of damages in patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation cases and is experienced in jury and bench trials, Federal Circuit appeals and appeals in other federal circuits. His achievements include work in major profile cases resulting in multi-million dollar recoveries, as well as in defending against cases where such amounts were sought. Mr. Kaplan tried a case that resulted in a jury verdict of more than $25 million, later increased post-trial to $40 million. That case was identified by The National Law Journal as one of the three largest patent infringement jury verdicts of 1997. Mr. Kaplan was lead trial counsel, successfully defending against a billion dollar patent infringement case, highlighted in the "Big Suits" column of the October 2007 issue of The American Lawyer as "one of the highest-stakes patent upsets in history."

Laura Beth Miller, chair, International Trade Commission. Ms. Miller has litigation experience involving a variety of Internet-related issues, as well as in traditional areas of intellectual property including patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret and copyright law. In addition, she has extensive commercial litigation experience in the areas of contract, antitrust, product liability, RICO violations, and bankruptcy. As a former Assistant Public Guardian for Cook County, Ms. Miller represented abused and neglected children. Her non-litigation experience includes counseling clients in trademark clearance and use, copyright, patent, trade secret, antitrust and licensing matters. Her experience spans into areas of technology including chemistry, biotechnology, Internet (computer) and mechanical arts.

Amir N. Penn, chair, Intellectual Asset Management. Mr. Penn's background is electrical engineering, including graduate studies in the field of semiconductor devices and processing. He has had substantial experience in procuring IP rights in the fields of semiconductors, nanotechnology, software related technology, medical devices and telecommunications. He is responsible for development of patent portfolios including preparation, prosecution and supervision of patent applications from filing to issuance.

Scott J. Slavick, chair, U.S. Trademark Prosecution. Mr. Slavick's practice focuses primarily on trademark prosecution and trademark litigation. In connection with this, he maintains all aspects of his large corporate clients' trademark portfolios. His relevant experience includes litigation in numerous federal courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In addition, he analyzes trademark searches and drafts trademark use opinions, and provides a great deal of client counseling.

Mary M. Squyres, chair, International Trademark Group. As a shareholder and chair of the International Trademark Practice Group, Ms. Squyres manages eight staff and more than 20,000 active trademark files. Her practice includes international trademark litigation, licensing and prosecution, including determination of international filing strategies, negotiating worldwide mutual co-existence agreements and effective enforcement strategies to defend marks and prevent infringements. Prior to joining Brinks, Ms. Squyres was in-house counsel at Sears, Roebuck and Co. in corporate and international trademark law for an international trademark portfolio of over 2,800 active trademarks and service marks in over 100 countries.

In addition, the firm named five industry team chairs as follows:

James A. Collins, chair, Electrical & Computer. Mr. Collins has litigation experience involving a variety of Internet related issues. His non-litigation experience includes counseling clients in patent clearance issues, licensing matters, and internet site launches. He prosecutes patents in the computer, electrical, and mechanical arts.

Jeffery M. Duncan, co-chair, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical. Mr. Duncan's practice includes counseling and preparing opinions in patent, trade secret and licensing matters; evaluating, negotiating and drafting technology transfer and joint venture agreements; performing intellectual property evaluations, audits and due diligence reviews; litigating patent and trade secrets cases; and preparing and prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. and abroad. His practice has concentrated on the following technologies: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, diagnostics and chemistry.

Thomas J. Filarski, chair, Chemical. Mr. Filarski counsels and litigates in patent, licensing, trade secret and related unfair competition and technology law. Mr. Filarski's courtroom experience has led him to be named an "Illinois Super Lawyer" in Intellectual Property Litigation for three consecutive years and a "Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer" by the Leading Lawyers Network. He is a charter member of the newly-formed Richard Linn American Inn of Court chapter in Chicago, and he serves on the Board of Trustees for the Licensing Executives Society, where he holds the office of secretary.

Michael E. Milz, Chair, Mechanical. Mr. Milz counsels clients in avoiding U.S. and foreign (primarily European and Canadian) patents. He also prepares and prosecutes U.S. and foreign patents. To date, he has prepared and/or prosecuted more than 100 U.S. patents in such mechanical and related technologies as cranes, medical devices, electro-mechanical devices, harvesting machinery, electric and gas fireplaces, office furniture and machinery for the printing/converting industry. Mr. Milz has significant litigation experience relating to the infringement, validity and enforceability of patents in numerous commercial and industrial technologies. He also has litigation experience in the areas of trade secret misappropriations, tortuous interference with prospective economic advantage and breach of contract.

K. Shannon Mrksich, Ph.D., co -chair, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical. Dr. Mrksich's practice specializes in portfolio management, opinions, prosecution, interference and litigation. Dr. Mrksich has represented clients in the technical areas of pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices and various other technologies in the chemical arts. She teaches a LLM class on substantive intellectual property at The John Marshall Law School, Chicago; writes articles on the Federal Circuit's application of written description and enablement in the biotech and chemical arts; and serves on the board of the Legal Aid Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.

William F. Prendergast, chair, Nanotechnology. Mr. Prendergast is a shareholder at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, where he has practiced intellectual property law and related matters exclusively since joining the firm in 1990. Mr. Prendergast has a background in physics. His practice focuses on litigation, client counseling, and patent prosecution in areas such as nanotechnology, mechanical, electromechanical, and computer arts. He has had specific experience in diverse areas such as medical products, semiconductor manufacturing, office furniture, various electromechanical devices, and nanotechnology-related areas, such as the synthesis and characterization of quantum dots and carbon nanotubes.

Founded in 1917, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione is based in Chicago with four additional offices across the country serving the intellectual property needs of clients from around the world. The firm is one of the largest IP law firms in the country, with more than 170 attorneys, scientific advisors and patent agents specializing in intellectual property litigation and all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, intellectual asset management, and technology and licensing agreements. Brinks routinely handles assignments in fields as diverse as electrical, chemical, mechanical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nanotechnology, Internet and computer technology, as well as in trademarks and brand names for a wide variety of products and services.