WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 7, 2019 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP continued the expansion of its 180-professionals strong Intellectual Property Litigation Practice with the addition of Vivian S. Kuo and Andrew Sommer as shareholders in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia offices, respectively. Prior to joining the firm, both attorneys were partners at Winston & Strawn LLP.
“The addition of Vivian and Drew represents a strategic move to bolster our IP litigation capabilities and technological know-how in the Washington, D.C. region and firmwide,” Laura Metcoff Klaus, Robert Mangas, Laura Foote Reiff, and Michael R. Sklaire, co-managing shareholders of the firm’s Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia offices, said in a joint statement. “Vivian has key experience as a trusted intellectual property litigator with years of trial and counseling experience covering semiconductors, computer hardware and software, networking, medical devices, consumer telematics, and automatic electronics. Prior to practicing law, Drew was a patent examiner with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.”
“Vivian and Drew are talented patent trial lawyers with unique backgrounds and experience who will complement our strong IP Litigation group,” said Scott J. Bornstein, co-chair of the firm’s Global Intellectual Property & Technology Practice and Global Patent Litigation Group. “Vivian represents clients across an array of industries and technologies in bet-the-company competitor cases in various District Courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and at the International Trade Commission. Drew represents both patentees and accused infringers in a variety of proceedings, and has appeared in more than 160 contentious intellectual property matters in jurisdictions across the United States. Moreover, his background as a former PTO Examiner and a Clerk for the Federal Circuit provide him with unique insight into case strategies.”
“Greenberg Traurig’s reputation and global footprint coupled with the breadth and depth of the firm’s full legal service offerings appealed to me,” Kuo said.
Kuo has wide-ranging experience litigating patent disputes through trial in district courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). She has been recognized as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer for several years. She was also listed in Managing IP’s Top 250 Women in IP (2014). She received her J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1998 and her M.S. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from George Washington University in 1995. She received a B.S. from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1989.
“I am looking forward to jumpstarting the next phase of my career at Greenberg Traurig, a firm well known for its IP litigation capabilities,” Sommer said.
Sommer focuses his practice on patent disputes, representing clients in district courts and before the ITC, the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He draws on technical skills and experience to counsel clients on the interplay between litigation and trial proceedings before the PTAB. He has been recognized in the IAM Patent 1000 and the IAM Patent Strategy 300 as well as being named one of “D.C.’s Rising Stars” by the National Law Journal (2014) and being selected as a Rising Star in Intellectual Property law and litigation in SuperLawyers (2014-2019). He received a J.D., magna cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law in 2004, where he held two positions on the editorial board of the George Mason Law Review. He received a B.S. from the University of Rochester in 2001.
Greenberg Traurig’s Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia offices have experienced significant growth in the past year. Recent additions include Timothy V. Kemp in the Insurance Regulatory & Transactions Practice; Scott A. Schipma and Michael Gardner in the Government Contracts Practice; Tomás Leonard and Nicole Y. Silver in the International Arbitration & Litigation Practice; Lucy S. Lee in the Tax Practice; Peter L. Tsirigotis in the Corporate Practice; Phillip V. Marano in the Intellectual Property & Technology Practice; and Samantha Ahuja in the Real Estate Practice.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Washington, D.C. Office
Greenberg Traurig’s Washington, D.C. office is home to a multidisciplinary team of lawyers and governmental affairs professionals with strategic experience helping companies of all sizes to navigate the federal government. The office’s work encompasses governmental affairs, federal procurement, global trade and investment, health and FDA business, litigation, government contracts, antitrust, insurance recovery and advisory, energy, telecommunications, real estate, intellectual property, representation of foreign governments, and national defense and homeland security. Greenberg Traurig’s clients range from the federal defense sector to energy, telecommunications, and health care companies, which the firm represents before government agencies, regulatory bodies, Congress, and the courts. The firm’s Washington, D.C. attorneys are also involved in handling a wide range of regulatory, corporate, and finance work for clients in these industries.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Northern Virginia Office
Greenberg Traurig’s clients rely on the more than 45 attorneys in the firm’s Northern Virginia office for multifaceted, broad-based legal services. Team members’ primary goal is to assist clients in addressing their legal needs, locally, regionally, or on a global scale. They work collaboratively with colleagues around the region, or across to Europe, the UK, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. And when a matter requires it, they do not hesitate to utilize the firm’s full slate of cross border resources. Clients come to the Northern Virginia office for their corporate and securities matters, real estate transactions, wealth management and tax planning, business immigration compliance, labor and employment issues, litigation cases, and government contract needs, among others. These include the top decision makers at tech companies headquartered in the region, as well as government contractors, health care organizations, high net worth individuals, and developers. Most of the firm’s Northern Virginia attorneys are admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
About Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.