Plus: 5 of 6 new hires are registered patent attorneys; patent examiner experience abounds  

Media Contact: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; barbara@eafocus.com; 248.260.8466

Troy, Mich.—September 24, 2024—It’s been a busy year of growth for intellectual property specialty law firm Fishman Stewart PLLC. Following increased client demand for complex specialty fields, the firm initiated an aggressive recruiting campaign, largely through its website and targeted LinkedIn efforts, to attract top IP talent from across the country. The firm is now pleased to announce the addition of two experienced attorneys in September, James W. Taylor II and John Bretscher. Their hiring follows the recent addition of Partner Cecily O’Regan, a Silicon Valley IP veteran, and attorneys, Jeong Hee Seo, Kimberly McLean and Tracy Zawaski. Three of the new team members are former patent examiners and five of the new team members are registered patent attorneys, with the sixth offering extensive trademark and copyright experience. The combination – plus the depth of AI, chemistry, and computer engineering experience – demonstrate the firm’s broad capabilities, according to Managing Partner, Michael Stewart.

“Fishman Stewart has seen tremendous growth this year in all areas of our IP practice, but especially with work requiring advanced technical knowledge and strategic thinking,” Stewart said. “Our clients are global, sophisticated innovators in breakthrough or reimagined industries who are intent on building a strong portfolio of intellectual capital. We are committed to matching their specific needs with corresponding IP talent and anticipate continuing opportunities into 2025 as well.”   

New to the firm in September 2024

John Bretscher is a seasoned registered patent attorney with a special interest in artificial intelligence and electrical and computer arts. His patent practice encompasses multiple hardware and software categories including machine learning, embedded control systems, network server control, computer architecture, communications standards, and telecommunications software, hardware and imaging. With a strong engineering background, he is an inventor on 15 patents related to computer architecture, communications and imaging.

Bretscher received his Juris Doctor from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in Computer Science, AI, and Data Science from DePaul University, and an Associate in Science from William Rainey Harper Community College.

James Taylor focuses his practice on patents and trade secrets, as well as litigation and dispute resolution. He has experience working in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as an examiner and worked as a patent agent for a decade before receiving his law degree and transitioning to being a registered patent attorney. Taylor is intrigued by the intersection of technology and the law and thrives on helping inventors secure their rights and drive the economy forward. His unusual combination of advanced technical skills encompasses chemical and computer science/electrical arts and AI.

Taylor holds a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University; Master of Science in Chemistry from The University of Sydney (Australia); a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.; and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Science in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University.

New to the firm since Spring 2024

Cecily O’Regan is a veteran Silicon Valley IP practitioner with a passion for helping entrepreneurs identify their sustainable, competitive advantage and create value in their business. Her areas of focus include medical devices, biometrics, software, and clean technologies. She is a named inventor on eight issued patents and author on 12 patent publications in the medical device and software fields.

Jeong Hee Seo brings experience as a technical product support engineer as well as in patent prosecution, both as a patent practitioner and examiner. He also has patent experience working closely with inventors from a major Korean appliance and consumer electronics corporation while working at a Korean patent law firm in Seoul, enabling him to serve as a bridge for U.S. clients seeking IP protection in Korea and Korean clients seeking IP protection in the U.S.

Kimberly McLean, a former primary patent examiner, has knowledge of the inside workings of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and understands how to achieve success with the PTO. Her practice focuses on patent prosecution and counseling in the electrical arts, including technology areas of software, cloud computing, blockchain, multimedia systems and applications, and autonomous vehicles.

Tracy Zawaski’s practice focuses primarily on trademarks, copyrights and computer law. For nearly 25 years, she has worked extensively on domestic and international trademark prosecution and contentious matters, trademark opinions, copyrights and counseling on trade secrets and trademarks. She also offers expertise in trademark enforcement and litigation, license agreements, and brand enforcement, among other trademark and IP law practices.

Following the firm’s belief that talent attraction should not have geographic barriers, a majority of the six new attorneys work outside of Fishman Stewart’s Michigan office, as do several longer-term attorneys. As far as corporate culture, the firm publishes the popular Fish Tank newsletter every Friday, providing a pop culture view of creativity and IP that has thousands of loyal readers. Additionally, the firm’s whimsical Sir Finnegan (Finny) goldfish logo is always a conversation starter. Thousands of Finny plush toys have been shared around the world and pictures posted by his many fans can be found at https://fishstewip.com/meet-finny/.

About Fishman Stewart PLLC

Fishman Stewart helps turn client creativity into valuable intellectual capital. Since its founding in 1996, the firm has obtained tens of thousands of patents and trademark registrations and represented clients in hundreds of cases in Federal Court. As strategic advisers to CEOs and senior executives, Fishman Stewart attorneys develop IP management strategies for U.S. and foreign-based companies to safeguard their business assets throughout the world. To discover how Fishman Stewart leverages intellectual property to effectively increase enterprise value, visit fishstewip.com.