Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Intellectual Property Practice Group has significantly deepened the firm’s patent capabilities with the hiring of six patent attorneys from two law firms. The new attorneys bring substantial experience in vital technologies and industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, industrial chemistry, medical devices, gaming systems, product packaging and design, energy and transportation.
Partners Adam H. Masia and Holby M. Abern and associate Kevin J. Cukierski joined Neal Gerber Eisenberg in late April from a global law firm. Days later, partner Michael B. Harlin and associates Kevin A. O’Connor and Thomas J. Campbell Jr. joined the firm from a Chicago boutique IP firm.
“These attorneys each bring impressive backgrounds and expand the firm’s strength in life sciences, chemistry, computer and mechanical sciences,” said Antony J. McShane, co-chair of the firm’s intellectual property group. “They are pivotal to the continued growth of our patent practice and will not only benefit our current clients, but will enable us to reach into new markets.”
Formed in 2002, the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Neal Gerber Eisenberg now boasts 32 attorneys (including 16 registered patent attorneys and eight members of the Federal Trial Bar) and seven paralegals and represents such well-known businesses as AOL, Beats Electronics, Crate & Barrel, IGT, Illinois Tool Works, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, The Nielsen Company, Pactiv, Polaroid, Redbox Automated Retail, Taylor Made and Walgreens.
Masia’s expansive patent practice includes advising on patent prosecution, patent opinion work, patent licensing agreements and the strategic use of patents and other intellectual property. He regularly counsels clients on patent enforcement and avoiding patent infringement. Masia’s representations extend across a diverse set of technologies from gaming systems to railroad parts. He earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from State University of New York at Binghamton.
Abern represents clients on patent prosecution, licensing, counseling and due diligence. He has obtained hundreds of patents for clients in the gaming, wind turbine, transportation, medical device and food and beverage industries. He received his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago and his B.S. in Biology from the University of Illinois.
Cukierski concentrates his practice on patent counseling and prosecution and has experience preparing and prosecuting domestic and foreign patent applications involving a variety of technologies, such as gaming software, medical devices, aviation, digital imaging, encryption, display devices and security systems. He received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and his M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois College of Engineering.
Harlin represents clients in patent counseling, analysis and prosecution, transactions, interferences and oppositions, and opinion preparation. He has represented clients in diverse fields such as pharmaceuticals, biologics, regenerative medicine, ophthalmological treatments, solid state analytical techniques, skin care products, renewable fuels, polymer manufacture and uses, and health foods. Harlin received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.S. in Chemistry from Yale University.
O’Connor’s patent practice includes patent prosecution, preparation of validity and infringement opinions, interference practice and litigation. He manages global patent portfolios and advises clients in a variety of freedom to operate and due diligence projects in the life sciences field. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado where his studies focused on interactions between the central nervous system and the immune system. O’Connor received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.A. from Creighton University.
Campbell represents clients in patent and trademark prosecution and in litigation over patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets covering a variety of technological and business areas. During and prior to law school, Campbell worked as a pharmacologist to identify potential drug candidates and generated a cardiovascular side-effect profile for selected drug candidates. He received his J.D. from DePaul University and his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame.
Since its formation a decade ago, Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Intellectual Property Practice Group has been one of the fastest growing intellectual property practices in Chicago. In 2011, Chambers USA ranked the group as a leading IP practice and U.S. News and World Report similarly ranked the firm’s IP group in the first tier of Chicago law firms and among the best nationally.
