Le Lézard
Subject: PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Intellectual Property Law Firm Brinks Gilson & Lione Elects Veteran Patent Litigator Gustavo Siller as President


CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - January 18, 2017) - Brinks Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the United States, has chosen shareholder and patent litigator Gustavo Siller as its president-elect.

Effective January 1, 2017, Siller will serve alongside current firm president James R. Sobieraj, who assumed the role as Brinks' president in 2012. Siller will begin a four-year term as president on January 1, 2018.

"Gus is a highly qualified IP attorney, and is deeply respected by clients and colleagues," says Sobieraj. "I'm confident that Gus will guide Brinks on a successful course, and I'm delighted that he is willing to offer his exemplary leadership in the service of our firm."

Siller's election arrives as Brinks celebrates its centennial year in 2017, an achievement he believes validates his decision as a young patent attorney to leave the U.S. Department of Energy to join the firm in 1988.

"I interviewed at several firms with IP capabilities at the beginning of my career," Siller notes. "Brinks stood out for its progressive, energetic, and modern environment."

Adds Siller, "Those qualities, together with the top-notch trial, litigation, counseling, and opinion skills of Brinks attorneys, have allowed the firm to adapt to a changing competitive landscape and thrive when other boutique IP firms have folded or merged."

During his nearly 30-year career at Brinks, Siller has focused on developing clients' intellectual property portfolios and defending them in court. He has represented clients in all aspects of patent law, including litigation, counseling, portfolio management, and patent prosecution. Siller's background is in computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and he has worked with innovations ranging from medical devices and packaging technology to software and semiconductors.

In the early 1990s, Siller foresaw the growing importance of China in the electronics and telecommunications industries, and an opportunity to develop a patent practice for Chinese companies looking to export their products to the U.S. To develop a client base in China and other Asian countries, Siller established and chaired Brinks' China Task Force.

Those efforts laid the groundwork for Brinks to apply to the Shenzhen Justice Bureau in 2016 to establish an office in Shenzhen, China, the firm's first overseas office. Shenzhen is a technology research and development center, and Brinks' application is expected to receive regulatory approval this year. Attorneys in Brinks' Shenzhen office will represent companies throughout the region in addressing intellectual property issues they have in the U.S.

Siller emigrated from Mexico as a child and became his family's first college graduate. In 1994, he became Brinks' first minority shareholder, and went on to establish and chair the firm's diversity committee from 2002 to 2009. While he led that committee, Brinks received the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's Thomas L. Sager Award in 2009 for notable achievement in hiring, retaining, and promoting diverse attorneys.

Brinks was the first intellectual property law firm in the Midwest Region and only the second in the country to receive the Thomas L. Sager Award.

"I was so proud to see Brinks recognized," notes Siller. "The Sager Award had historically been given to general practice firms with much deeper resources."

"Recognizing and promoting diversity is something we continue to hold in high value," adds Siller. "Clients appreciate it; our practice demands it. And it's the right thing to do."

Siller looks forward to guiding the firm into its second century, maintaining its stature as an independent and trusted partner while seizing new opportunities as they unfold. "Clients turn to Brinks for excellent representation and value," says Siller. "I'm confident that our team will continue to provide that as the firm grows and tackles new challenges ahead."

Brinks Gilson & Lione

Celebrating its centennial year in 2017, Brinks Gilson & Lione is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the US, and helps clients around the world to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. Our more than 140 lawyers, patent agents and scientific advisors assist clients in all aspects of patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret, and copyright law. Brinks attorneys provide informed counsel with respect to innovations in a range of complex and valuable technologies, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, bioengineering, industrial manufacturing, electronics and software, and medical devices. More information is at www.brinksgilson.com.

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