Seyfarth Shaw Grows Intellectual Property Practice Group With Addition of Richard P. Gilly in the Washington, D.C. Office

Washington , D.C. (March 1, 2010)—Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full-service law firms, today announced that Richard P. Gilly has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group. He was previously at Winston & Strawn LLP.

With over 23 years of experience, Gilly focuses his practice on intellectual property counseling and litigation. His background includes: strategically managing and prosecuting patent portfolios; developing and implementing patent litigation strategies; rendering IP opinions; drafting and negotiating IP licenses and agreements; and counseling clients on a variety of strategic intellectual property and business issues. His technical and legal proficiencies enable him to handle patent matters involving a wide range of technologies, including medical devices, Internet and computer-related inventions, software systems, semiconductor manufacturing, complex mechanical systems, and chemical engineering applications.

Gilly advises clients on intellectual property matters involving trademark acquisition and policing, e-commerce, anti-spam, and other Internet law issues. His patent and trademark representations include large French enterprises and other international companies, while his litigation experience includes major patent and trademark infringement cases. He has served as co-lead counsel representing both defendants and plaintiffs in patent infringement litigation, developed case litigation strategies, evaluated patent validity and infringement positions in pre-litigation investigations, and reviewed licensing agreements in the context of pre-litigation patent enforcement.

Gilly also has led numerous transactions involving intellectual property and related issues, including negotiating multimillion-dollar technology licensing agreements. He has drafted, reviewed, and negotiated hundreds of technology agreements, including technology transfer agreements; joint development agreements for both hardware and software; joint marketing alliances; consulting agreements; government agreements; university agreements; and others.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Richard to our national full-service IP practice,” said Brian L. Michaelis, Chair of Seyfarth Shaw’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. “Richard’s broad and deep practice strengthens our IP capabilities in D.C. and across our platform.”

As technology speeds the pace of innovation, no business can afford to take its intellectual property for granted. The intellectual property practice at Seyfarth Shaw offers clients powerful protection for their most valuable assets. Backed by the resources of one of the nation’s premier law firms, Seyfarth’s veteran team of attorneys represents a diverse roster of clients—from Fortune 500 and multinational corporations to fast-growing start-ups. With broad experience in all areas of intellectual property law, the Seyfarth Shaw intellectual property practice is a full-service partner that helps clients identify and secure their intellectual property rights, exploit them in the marketplace and enforce or defend them anywhere the need arises.

“Richard is a perfect fit and we wholeheartedly welcome him to the firm,” said Joseph R. Damato, Managing Partner of Seyfarth Shaw’s Washington, D.C. office. “He is personable, enthusiastic, and ripe to help lay the groundwork for a solid IP practice in our office.”

The Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw opened in 1971 with two lawyers whose practice focused on labor and employment law. Since its opening, the office has grown to over 60 lawyers, with practices spanning contracts, construction law and litigation, labor and employment, employee benefits, white collar crime, corporate, real estate and commercial litigation.

“I’m honored to join Seyfarth Shaw and work with my new colleagues to help build the foundations of an IP practice in D.C.,” said Gilly. “I look forward to offering my clients strong, expansive services with the immense resources available to me throughout the firm.”

Gilly received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (magna cum laude) from Yale University, and he received his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois state bars, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He speaks fluent French and is an active member of the French American Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the U.S. Council for International Business, and serves on the Software Committee of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI). Gilly began his legal career with IBM, where he was extensively involved in complex technology licensing and agreement work. Since then, he has had wide-ranging experiences in private practice representing both Fortune 100 and emerging technology companies in patent and IP litigation, and transactions.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys located in ten offices throughout the United States including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., as well as Brussels, Belgium. Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services. The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business and social fabric. Clients include over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities. For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.