Press Releases
Ann Arbor, MI--Chicago-based Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the United States, announces that the firm’s Ann Arbor office has been ranked by the Ann Arbor Business Review, a business weekly, as the largest intellectual property law firm in Washtenaw, Livingston and Western Wayne Counties. The survey results were published in the February 14, 2008 edition of the Ann Arbor Business Review.
The Ann Arbor office is led by Managing Partner, Steven L. Oberholtzer, who also serves as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Mr. Oberholtzer joined Brinks in 2000 when he was hired to manage the firm’s then new Ann Arbor office. He has since grown the office to 33 total staff, including 18 attorneys and a Ph.D. patent agent.
Recent growth of the office stems from the closing of Pfizer’s Ann Arbor operations in January 2007. Mr. Oberholtzer called Pfizer’s in-house counsel department head to express interest in discussing the potential hiring of some of Pfizer’s legal staff. Ultimately, four attorneys from Pfizer joined Brinks in 2007, including two who hold Ph.D’s in addition to law degrees.
The Ann Arbor Business Review is a weekly business journal published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The publication covers business news in the Washtenaw County and Livingston County areas. Owned by Advance Publications, it has the same parent company as the Ann Arbor News, a daily newspaper. The two publications share a publisher, but are editorially independent.
Founded in 1917, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione is based in Chicago with four additional offices across the country, including Ann Arbor, 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.
