Gordon & Rees continues to expand its intellectual property group with the addition of three IP attorneys in its Washington, DC office. John Ryan joins as a partner, Thomas Haas as of counsel and Elias Vargas as an associate.
“We are pleased to continue our aggressive expansion of our IP practice in the DC office by adding three skilled attorneys,” said O’Kelly McWilliams, office managing partner of the firm’s Washington DC office. “Partner Howard Shipley is the lead of our IP practice in DC and he oversees the growth and development of this skilled team of attorneys. Adding John, Tom and Elias will only strengthen our ability to effectively service our clients.”
John Ryan has more than 25 years of law firm and in-house experience, he has practiced in both the litigation and transactional side of intellectual property, including counseling and opinion work, litigation - patent infringement, licensing, and portfolio management. Ryan’s practice focuses on the chemical, biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries.
Ryan has made the Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers: Intellectual Property: Litigation (District of Columbia) for five consecutive years (2012-2016) and has been named a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer: Intellectual Property for four years consecutive years (2013-2016). He also was recognized as a Managing Intellectual Property IP Star for four years in a row (2013-2016).
He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. District Courts: Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of New York and Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Ryan is an active member of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
Ryan received his LL.M. from George Washington University Law School, his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, and is a graduate of Bucknell University.
“I am excited to join a talented group of attorneys in the intellectual practice group at Gordon & Rees,” said Ryan. “We look forward to being able to offer clients a full range of IP related services in a variety of technologies including electrical engineering and software; in addition, the firm’s substantial experience handling IP related disputes both at the USPTO and in federal court throughout its many offices is a valuable resource for clients.”
Thomas Haas brings a depth of experience in biotechnology related matters and has a broad base of experience in intellectual property law, including serving as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. His practice includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications, infringement and invalidity studies, licensing, drafting material transfer and confidentiality agreements, patent portfolio management and litigation. Mr. Haas also has research experience at a cutting edge molecular genetics lab and a university affiliated environmental lab.
Elias Vargas’s experience includes the preparation and prosecution of patent applications related to cloud computing, software solutions, computer architecture, computer hardware and mobile virtualization, graphic user interfaces, video and image processing, optical components and systems, and medical, automotive and sensor devices. Prior to joining Gordon& Rees, Vargas worked as an electrical engineer prior to entering law school.
“With the addition of these three new attorneys, Gordon & Rees’s IP practice group has 60 skilled attorneys in our offices across the United States,” said Susan Meyer, partner and co-chair of the firm’s intellectual property practice group. “We have fifteen registered patent attorneys and many of the attorneys within our entire practice group have advanced science and technology degrees. We also have comprehensive IP protection and prosecution experience and professional affiliations in numerous foreign jurisdictions.”
Among the fastest-growing law firms in the country, Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 700 lawyers and 38 offices in 24 states. In 2016, Law360 ranked the firm 53rd on its list of the largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm at No. 114 on the Am Law 200 and at No. 39 on its Diversity Scorecard. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees has been recognized as a “Go-To Law Firm” for Fortune 500 companies.