IP People Moves and Announcements: Europe and USA

Simmons & Simmons boosts IP practice in London; Cleveland Scott York is born; Dentons sets up IP practice in Italy; Bryan Cave expands in Germany; Goodwin continues with expansion; Covington lands two ex-PTAB judges; Barnes & Thornburg hires in Atlanta; McGuireWoods hires IP partner in Houston; Debevoise brings in IP transactions specialist; Duane Morris hires another IP partner; McGuirk rejoins Nixon Peabody; and McDonald Hopkins, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie and Michael Best also hired counsel.

Europe

Simmons & Simmons strenghtens IP practice in London
The firm has hired patent litigator Michael Burdon from Olswang to shore up its IP team, following the departure of four IP partners last year. Burdon, who leads Olswang’s European patent litigation practice, is expected to officially join as partner on May 2. Burdon’s imminent departure follows Justin Hill, co-head of Olswang’s patent prosecution practice, who will officially join Dentons in May - the month CMS, Olswang and Nabarro will complete their merger.

Cleveland Scott York is born
IP prosecution firms Cleveland IP and Scott & York IP Law have merged this month to become Cleveland Scott York. Cleveland IP is one of the leading UK IP firms ranked for patent and trade mark prosecution work in  IP Stars 2017. The new firm will have offices in London, St Albans, Reading and a new one in Brussels.

Goodwin continues with expansion
The firm welcomed patent attorney Catherine McCarty as partner in its life sciences group in Boston. McCarty, who has a background in chemistry, was previously partner at Lando & Anastasi. Last month Goodwin also recruited of IP Star Neel Chatterjee.

Covington lands two ex-PTAB judges
Former Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judges Peter Chen and Scott Kamholz have joined the firm’s patent office practice as partner and of counsel respectively. Chen, who is also a patent attorney, will be based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office while Kamholz  will be in Washington DC.

Barnes & Thornburg hires in Atlanta
The firm appointed Robert Lockwood as partner in its IP practice in Atlanta. Lockwood specialises in contentious and non-contentious soft IP work, particularly trade mark and domain name. He was previously with Burr & Forman.

McGuireWoods hires IP partner in Houston
IP litigator Tyler VanHoutan has joined the firm as partner. VanHoutan advises on disputes before the ITC and federal courts, with a particular focus on mobile telecommunication and oil and gas sectors. He was previously with Winston & Strawn.

Debevoise brings in IP transactions specialist
Henry Lebowitz is now partner in Debevoise & Plimpton’s IP practice in New York. Lebowitz specialises in IP-related transactions, particularly in the life science sector, but also advises on disputes. Prior to joining he was head of technology transactions at Fried Frank.

Duane Morris hires another IP partner
Cindy Yang joined the firm partner in the New York office. Yang was previously with Schiff Hardin, where she advised on patent contentious and prosecution matters. She follows Robin McGrath who also joined the firm’s Atlanta office last month.

McGuirk rejoins Nixon Peabody
Richard A McGuirk has rejoined Nixon Peabody’s commercial and IP litigation practice in Rochester, New York. McGuirk left the firm in 2010 as partner after a decade. IP litigation is among his legal practice areas.

Other moves news in the US

Patent litigator Ashley A Weaver was hired by McDonald Hopkins as counsel in its IP department in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie welcomed IP litigator Holly Logue as of counsel in its IP group in California.

William Carroll is now senior counsel in Michael Best’s IP department in Chicago. He joins from boutique firm Brinks Gilson & Lione.