Eight McAndrews Attorneys Named to the IAM Patent 1000
05.30.19
McAndrews, Held & Malloy announced today that firm president and shareholder Robert A. Surrette, and shareholders Christopher V. Carani, Troy A. Groetken, Herbert D. Hart III, Sharon Hwang, Edward A. Mas II, Wilhelm L. Rao, and Thomas Wimbiscus are featured in IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2019.
The guide recognized the firm for Patent Contentious, Patent Prosecution, PTAB Litigation, and Life Sciences. Its profile in the 2019 guide notes that “McAndrews, Held & Malloy is one of the most sought-after IP, technology, and patent firms in the United States with over 30 years of experience and deep knowledge in every facet of IP law. … Setting McAndrews further apart from most U.S. firms, its patent attorneys have decades of trial experience, including at the PTAB. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that McAndrews has also been recognized as having one of the most active post-grant review dockets in the United States.”
While McAndrews itself is consistently ranked year after year on the IAM Patent 1000, the individual attorneys recommended in this year’s guide are listed below:
- Christopher V. Carani, an international “thought leader on design patents” who works for one of the world’s premier consumer electronics companies, among other clients. “Carani really cut his teeth in the design world in enforcement. He’s doing more prosecution work now as well. … He is a really creative thinker.”
- Troy A. Groetken is “known globally as the go-to IP attorney for Fortune 100 and 500 firm clients regarding complex IP matters involving patent portfolio development, implementation, and enforcement (especially those matters impacted by recent changes caused by the America Invents Act, abbreviated new drug application and abbreviated biologics license application regulatory schemas).”
- Herbert D. Hart III has repeatedly been recognized as a leading IP practitioner in publications such as Who’s Who Legal – Patents, Legal Media Group’s Life Sciences, Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars and Legal Leaders’ Chicago’s Top-Rated Lawyers, as well as the IAM Patent 1000. His many years of trial experience at the PTAB have led patent owners and petitioners alike to entrust their important cases to him, and “as a result of his interference background, (he) knows all the nuances of post-issuance practice going back many years.”
- Sharon Hwang is an experienced and versatile trial lawyer who led the Stryker team in the long-running battle of Stryker against Zimmer that earned a Supreme Court victory on a pivotal issue on enhanced damages and a district court finding of treble damages and attorney fees. Not only has Hwang secured record-setting trial victories, but Hwang’s technical and legal acumen have enabled her to win numerous important victories before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
- Edward A. Mas II “is always ready to lead the charge, whatever the technical subject matter of a case; he … likes to get down into the trenches with his team and really develop the trial themes, as opposed to someone who parachutes in just to sing the descant in the courtroom.” Mas has been at the forefront of the firm’s relationship with Abbott Labs for nearly 20 years.
- Wilhelm L. Rao “hits the nail on the head. His multifariousness as an IP lawyer leads to well-rounded arguments and presentations at trial.” Rao is known and respected for taking into account his client’s business goals when discussing or recommending an approach to a dispute that may or may not include litigation.
- Robert A. Surrette is an integral part of the team serving Stryker, for which the firm earned a Supreme Court victory that helped shape the law on enhanced damages and willfulness. “President Surrette performs with precision throughout all litigation phases and has trial and appellate experience that inspires confidence.”
- Thomas Wimbiscus stands out “for his more than three decades of frontline litigation experience and limitless post-grant expertise.” His “many years of success in litigating IP cases in the U.S. courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the PTAB has led clients to trust him with their most important IP disputes.”