Industry moves and mergers

Yan Gong has been appointed local partner at Clyde & Co as well as head of the China trademark practice at the firm’s Chinese joint law venture Clyde & Co Westlink. Trademark attorneys Jin Yan, Huanan Zhu and Weiwei Zhang also join the Beijing office, along with paralegals Yaqiong Wang and Rui Chen, while Yihang Liui has been appointed as a trademark attorney in Chongqing.

Greenberg Traurig IP & Technology practice shareholder Roman Fayerberg has been elected co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s IP Law Section. His two-year term began in September 2018 and he will help to oversee the section’s nine committees.

Trademark maven Ian Block has left Kirkland & Ellis to join Neal Gerber Eisenberg as a partner. Block’s practice has an emphasis on trademark and trade dress issues; he joins a group of more than 40 IP professionals.

Southern Californian law firm Ferguson Case Orr has announced the addition of three partners to its IP law bench. Jaye Heybl has worked on diverse trademark matters as well as prosecuting electronics and computer patents, while Brian Philpott’s practice encompasses trademarks, copyrights and patents. Corey Donaldson, who has experience in trademark, trade dress, design and patent matters, joins them at the firm’s Ventura County office.

Ashurst has bolstered its IP team in Sydney with the appointment of Nina Fitzgerald as a partner. While her practice primarily focuses on patent litigation, she has also acted in IP matters involving trademarks, copyright, designs and confidential information. She joined from Deacons in Hong Kong, where she had been since 2015.

Mariano Santos joins the Madrid team of Bird & Bird as a partner. Santos was previously the international legal affairs manager at Herrero & Asociados and specialises in processing Spanish, EU and other trademarks, with a particular focus on trademark prosecution, opposition proceedings, appeals, conflict research, strategic advice and negotiations.

Nathan Kelley has boosted the ranks of Perkins Coie’s IP practice, where he is now a partner in the Washington DC office. Previously Kelley acted as the solicitor and deputy general counsel for IP law at the USPTO, defending the director of the US office in court. Some of the significant patent and trademark cases he has been involved in include Aqua Products Inc v Matal, In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC and Novartis AG v Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Mathys & Squire has continued its UK expansion with the opening of new offices in the Midlands and Oxford – bringing the total number of offices to seven across the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Luxembourg. Heading up the Midlands office is Rebecca Tew, whose practice encompasses managing global trademark portfolios, strategic advice, contentious proceedings, IP transfers and anti-counterfeiting procedures.

Bradley J Walz joins Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in the corporate department in Minneapolis, where he helps companies with a broad range of business and transactional issues. Previously, Walz was a shareholder at Winthrop & Weinstine; he advised on the buying, selling and licensing of IP assets, trademark agreements, software development agreements, compliance matters, cloud computing and data privacy matters. He has also managed global trademark portfolios for companies in the fast food, beer and hops, e-sports, jewellery, software and aftermarket engine parts industries. The firm also recently announced the appointment of Joshua Frick to of counsel in the Chicago office. Frick has over 10 years of experience and focuses on trademarks, unfair competition and copyrights.