Intellectual Property Team Joins Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

CHICAGO and WASHINGTON, D.C. – Barnes & Thornburg LLP has added Matthew E. Leno, Peter M. Siavelis and Matthew J. Gryzlo as partners in the Intellectual Property Department. Siavelis and Gryzlo will reside in the Chicago office where the firm has seen the addition of six partners this year, and Leno will practice out of the Washington, D.C., office. All three join from McDermott Will & Emery.

“The Chicago office is in a growth phase and the addition of these accomplished IP attorneys continues that strategic trajectory,” said Mark Rust, managing partner of the Chicago office. “We’ve been making significant investments in Chicago and other key markets, like Washington, D.C., and seeing it reflected in the exceptional legal talent that we’re able to attract and retain on behalf of our clients.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome this group to the firm,” said Julia Gard, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Intellectual Property Department. “We have a deep bench of talented attorneys with technical backgrounds and experience. The addition of these three will be an asset to our clients facing sophisticated and complex challenges to their business.”

About the Attorneys

Matthew Leno concentrates his practice on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark and trade secret matters, and implementing and executing patent portfolio management, invention harvesting, patent prosecution and intellectual property transactions. He represents clients in a variety of industries, including medical devices, dental devices, cellphone technology, semiconductors, internet, information filtering technology, data communications, data storage, tracking systems and software, air handling systems, energy recovery systems, manufacturing, chemical processing and consumer packaging. Having previous experience as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Leno is well-versed in inter partes reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Leno also dedicates his time to pro bono work to provide public special education services for families in need. Leno earned his J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law and his B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Peter Siavelis focuses his practice on U.S. and foreign patent and trademark litigation, counseling and portfolio development. He represents clients in wide variety of technical fields and plays a key role in helping clients enforce, acquire and license valuable IP rights. In addition to his enforcement and litigation experience, he represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in post grant proceedings, including inter partes reviews and reexamination proceedings. Siavelis counsels and prosecutes patent applications in the mechanical and electrical arts, including applications related to sports and fitness equipment, wearable active monitoring technology, commercial and residential ventilation equipment, beverage containers, lighting fixtures, LEDs, computer server hardware and cabinets, infrared, ultrasonic and acoustic sensor assemblies, medical devices and packaging containers, window hardware, plumbing fixtures and hardware, plastic part molding, concrete conduit repair, diesel engine sensors and monitoring, as well as semiconductor fabrication, food processing and commercial printing.

Active in the legal community, Siavelis is a member of various bar and trade associations, including the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He earned his J.D. from the Chicago-Kent School of Law and his B.S. from Michigan State University.

Matthew Gryzlo advises clients on domestic and international patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition and other related causes. His practices focuses primarily in the areas of litigation, portfolio management and IP acquisition. He has served as trial counsel in federal district courts, federal courts of appeals, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Gryzlo’s client base is wide-ranging, including companies in the medical device, telecommunication, semiconductor, software, data networks, artificial intelligence, food and beverage, packaging, precision machinery, consumer products and children’s toy industries.

Gryzlo has an active pro bono docket, including for the Family Defense Center in Chicago, is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and has dedicated years of service as a coach, manager, and board member for numerous youth athletic organizations. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from The John Marshall Law School where he was an Editor on the Law Review, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 14 offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.