John Rondini is a multi-faceted attorney with extensive knowledge in litigation, negotiating settlements, and licensing agreements. John’s practice includes representing clients in patent prosecution, litigation, and cyber security and data privacy matters. In recognizing the pending threat of cyber-incidents his clients may face, John has worked to help develop Brook Kushman’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy group. John’s experience includes assessing a client’s current cybersecurity and data privacy protocols and developing a comprehensive incident response plan to ensure compliance with applicable laws. John also assists his client’s in determining the potential root cause of a breach and what type of notification may be necessary. John also has experience in addressing information and data security requirements for his clients during both vendor contractual or M&A transactions. John has also represented client’s litigation matters at the district court and appellate level, as well as, before the International Trade Commission. John has actively managed each stage of litigation from pre-suit pleadings through trial, and through appeal. John has also represented his client’s needs in negotiating settlements and licensing agreements. While representing one client’s litigation needs, John became involved in developing and growing Brooks Kushman’s Post-Grant Proceedings team. As a result, John was part of a team that handled 25 inter partes review proceedings that invalidated hundreds of patent claims being asserted against that client. John has also managed the patent prosecution docket for clients that range from Fortune 500 companies to individual inventors. John’s prosecution experience includes handling a patent application from an initial draft through allowance. Relying on his litigation and prosecution experience, John’s has also handled numerous patentability and clearance opinions on behalf of his clients. Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, John worked for nearly ten years as a hardware design and software engineer in the automotive and semi-conductor industries. This work provided John with invaluable experience that helps him further counsel his client’s intellectual property needs.

Robyn Lederman is a trademark attorney who works extensively with her clients on cost-effective strategies to solve issues related to trademark clearance, prosecution, and a wide array of enforcement strategies. With more than 25 years of experience practicing in the area of trademark law, Robyn Lederman specializes in global branding strategy, trademark and domain name counseling, clearance, protection and enforcement for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Robyn works extensively with company legal, marketing and business development groups to devise cost-effective strategies to achieve marketing goals. She works with her clients on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, domain name recovery, IP due diligence, licensing, trade dress and unfair competition. She represents clients in varied industries including agricultural, automotive, bio-tech, consumer products, cosmetics, entertainment, financial services, high-tech and homeland security. Along with managing U.S. trademark portfolios for her clients, Robyn has significant experience in obtaining trademark protection for her clients worldwide. Prior to Brooks Kushman, Robyn worked for more than seven years at a law firm in Israel as a trademark attorney and maintains her professional relationships in what has become known as “the start-up nation” by visiting clients and colleagues each year to keep them apprised of IP developments in the U.S. Robyn Lederman is brilliant at identifying optimal strategies for global brand protection and enforcement - and executing them. - World Trademark Review 1000 Robyn takes a special interest in connecting and creating partnerships between Israeli clients with Michigan universities, investors, and economic development organizations. She enjoys working with companies based in Israel that are expanding into the United States. Robyn is also on the Board of the Michigan Israel Business Bridge, a non-profit, member organization whose mission is to promote business and investment opportunities between Michigan and Israel Outside of Brooks Kushman, Robyn is very active in the community, educating young companies and start-ups on the practical impact of trademark law. She served for years as a mentor for Bizdom, a Detroit based business accelerator, where she often presented on how to effectively select names and build brand identity. Robyn is a Hamilton junkie who loves to brag about Detroit’s revival. She is in awe of Sheryl Sandberg, and continues to provide strong support for her alma mater, with all three children attending Michigan State University at the same time – Go Green!

Reza Roghani Esfahani is an IP litigation professional with a background in mechanical and chemical technologies. Reza's practice concentrates on intellectual property litigation, with a focus on patent litigation involving a wide range of technologies including mechanical, chemical, and pharmaceuticals. Reza also has experience in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications as well as intellectual property due diligence. Reza earned his Bachelor’s and Master's of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. While pursuing his engineering degrees, Reza worked on projects directed at breast cancer therapy, live cell delivery, and the development of small molecule inhibitors of a human protein implicated in thrombosis. Additionally, Reza helped fabricate and functionalize microfluidic devices for isolating circulating tumor cells. Reza also has experience working on petroleum projects. In particular, his projects were directed toward the investigation of the aggregation kinetics of crude oil components. Reza holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan. For two years, Reza taught a senior-level Chemical Engineering course at the University of Michigan as a graduate student instructor. During his time at the University of Michigan, Reza was an active member of student organizations such as the Honor Society of Chemical Engineers and the Intellectual Property Student Association.

Erin Bowles is an experienced patent attorney with a well-rounded background in counseling domestic and international clients. She applies her industry experience and expansive understanding of mechanical, material and electrical technologies to her practice. Erin's practice involves counseling domestic and international clients from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies on their intellectual property portfolios, with a focus on obtaining domestic and foreign patents and handling patent prosecution procedures. Her practice also includes patentability investigations, infringement and right-to-use analysis, and intellectual property transactions and licensing agreements, trademark, trade dress, and copyright issues. Erin has an expansive understanding of various mechanical and electromechanical technologies. In particular, she has experience representing clients and protecting intellectual property rights in the alternative energy, medical device, automotive technology, optics and lighting, aviation technology, and personal care product industries, among others. Erin brings nearly a decade of engineering experience to her law practice. During this time, Erin gained technical experience in a broad range of positions including product design, manufacturing, program management and technical sales. These experiences provide Erin with an expansive understanding of broad range of technologies such as solar power, plastic injection molding, and complex automotive sensors and control systems. While working for major international companies, Erin's involvement extended beyond daily engineering activities and crossed international boundaries. For example, Erin managed the development of advanced components from a network of global facilities and coordinated with foreign subsidiaries to design and manufacture products for international programs. Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, Erin worked at an intellectual property firm, as well as in the legal department of an automotive original equipment manufacturer. She also studied international patent law at the Max Plank Institute in Munich. While in Munich, Erin learned about the patent process at the European Patent Office and met with the intellectual property departments of several international companies. This combination of diverse experiences provides Erin with an excellent understanding of the many aspects of intellectual property. Moreover, Erin's experience gives her insight into the intellectual property management challenges for both domestic and international companies in today`s global marketplace. When she is not at the office, you are most likely to find Erin on the water paddle boarding, waterskiing, wake surfing, kiteboarding, or pretty much any water sport. She also enjoys travelling, and her goal is to visit a new country every year.

Bryan Hart combines his technical expertise and litigation experience to provide clients with strategic, forward-thinking patent counsel that anticipates both opportunities and challenges across a wide range of industries and technologies. Bryan Hart practices all areas of patent law, specializing in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical, electrical, and software arts. He excels at mastering complex technical information while maintaining the big picture and communicating key concepts in a comprehensible, concise, and persuasive manner. His applications have covered artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, machine vision, object tracking for collision avoidance, seatbelt assemblies, airbag assemblies and deployment, vehicle crash testing, additive manufacturing, and automobile frames, among other areas. Bryan has extensive experience in patent litigation. He has participated in cases in federal district court, investigations before the International Trade Commission, and inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He has experience with a wide variety of technologies, including LTE (long-term evolution) standards, in-dash GPS units, textiles, enterprise storage systems, mobile-phone operating systems, lottery-ticket printing, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) equipment, lithium-ion battery packs, 2D-to-3D conversion software, cloud computing, content distribution networks, piston solid lubricants, and prosthetic knee replacements. His litigation experience helps him keep a patent’s ultimate potential outcome-enforcement-in mind throughout the prosecution process. Bryan is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an Articles Editor for the University of Chicago Review. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Engineering where he earned his B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering, highest honors. He also serves as the secretary for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and as a member of the Diversity in IP Law Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In his free time, Bryan enjoys reading X-Men comics and taking his daughter to the local children’s science museum.

John Halan is an IP litigator who has extensive knowledge in patent, trade secret, and related commercial litigation. John M. Halan has been practicing with the intellectual property law firm of Brooks Kushman P.C. since 1990, where he has been a shareholder for many years and is the head of the firm`s trade secrets group. As a litigator, he specializes in high-stakes intellectual property litigation, including patent, trade secret, and related commercial litigation. He has tried many cases as lead or team trial counsel and has also successfully argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also has considerable experience handling various matters before the PTAB, including inter partes reviews and appeals. In addition to litigation, John has negotiated and prepared numerous intellectual property and commercial agreements, including patent and technology license agreements. He has also prepared many infringement and validity patent opinions and has been called upon to act as a patent dispute mediator. As a licensed professional engineer, prior to attending law school and joining Brooks Kushman, John managed a number of industrial construction projects from initial design through to completion.

James Proscia is a talented IP attorney with over 20 years of patent prosecution experience and degrees in chemistry, biotechnology, electrical engineering and physics. Jim, serving as the Chair of Brooks Kushman's Applied Physics Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Chemistry Practice Group, brings over 20 years of patent prosecution experience to the table. His degrees in chemical physics, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and biotechnology, coupled with his diverse expertise across a broad range of industries, make him a reliable and proficient professional. Jim's specialization lies in working with universities, where he represents technology transfer departments to protect and monetize their inventions. His unique background as a former adjunct professor and researcher equips him with deep knowledge of both sides of this relationship. He excels in collaborating closely with professors and scientists to draft and prosecute patent applications, leveraging his diverse educational background to work effectively on a wide range of technologies. Jim has substantial experience in various sub-fields of physics, including solid-state physics, optics, electricity and magnetism, mechanics, and atomic and molecular physics. His expertise extends to optical systems, medical resonance imaging, and image processing, as well as circuit design. He has drafted patent applications in areas related to photonic emission, Brillouin light scattering, the photoacoustic effect, single photon sources for scalable quantum optical circuits, parity-time (PT) symmetric wireless telemetric sensors and systems, and multi-spectral scattering-matrix tomography. His expertise also extends to solid-state physics, electricity and magnetism, mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, and optical communication. In addition to his physics expertise, Jim has a strong technical background in organic chemistry and has collaborated with clients in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries on small-molecule therapeutics, drug formulation and delivery technologies, and chemical process technologies. His patent prosecution and opinion work encompass medical and diagnostic devices and biotechnology. Specific examples include methods for treating diseases, diagnostic assays, biomarkers, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic agents, blood analysis methods, food processing techniques, and biofuel technologies. With nearly 20 years of laboratory experience before transitioning to patent law, Jim conducted extensive research in semiconductor films and modeled the optical properties of multilayer films. ‎Jim applies his considerable technical experience to the procurement of patents, both ‎foreign and domestic, and to assist in client counseling and patent portfolio management. His deep understanding of an inventor’s work language allows him to draw out the essential information required to obtain patents with excellence. In addition to preparing and prosecuting patent applications, Jim consults clients on developing patent portfolio strategies and preparing freedom to operate opinions, particularly in relation to the chemical and electrical arts. Jim has graduate degrees in chemical physics (Harvard), physics (Harvard), biotechnology (Johns Hopkins), and electrical engineering (Ohio University). His completed graduate courses include quantum mechanics, electromagnetic theory, statistical mechanics, and signal processing. Prior to joining Brooks Kushman, Jim worked as a research scientist and technical specialist at a large automotive OEM for ten years. Over his career, he was awarded fourteen patents in thin film technologies and co-authored several scientific articles. Jim has also been an in-house patent attorney at Pfizer and an adjunct professor of chemistry at Wayne State University.

Christopher Smith is a distinguished intellectual property attorney specializing in patent litigation, IP counseling, licensing, and patent and trademark prosecution, with extensive experience representing Fortune 500 companies and startups across diverse industries. Christopher Smith is a highly regarded intellectual property attorney, recognized for his work in IP litigation, especially in patent litigation. His practice encompasses patent and trademark prosecution and the preparation of complex invalidity and infringement opinions. In 2024, Chris was honored with the prestigious Law360 MVP Award, an accolade awarded to only six IP attorneys nationwide, highlighting his exceptional influence and impact within the IP law community. Chris is a registered patent attorney authorized to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He represents clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups, leveraging a comprehensive understanding of industries including automotive (notably infotainment), medical devices, internet technologies (such as content delivery networks), and telecommunications (including fiber optics). Chris’s background in patent prosecution deepens his litigation acumen, enabling him to analyze patent file histories with precision, which is invaluable in shaping claim construction and invalidity arguments. His litigation success is rooted in both his technical expertise and extensive experience with trial teams, previously honed during his time at Kirkland and Ellis in Los Angeles. Chris is an active speaker at a number of major IP conferences, frequently sharing his insights on emerging issues in intellectual property law, offering valuable perspectives on cutting-edge topics and best practices. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from UCLA. His early judicial externship with the Honorable R. Gary Klausner in the Central District of California offered him a unique perspective on federal judiciary processes, which continues to inform his strategic approach in litigation. Outside the courtroom, Chris is dedicated to family and leisure pursuits, enjoying fishing, swimming with his kids, bowling, historical autograph collecting and working on his golf game.

David Syrowik is an experienced patent attorney who takes a client-centered approach to his practice. David Syrowik never forgets the importance of the client in the attorney-client relationship. David welcomes any opportunity to bring inventors directly into the patent prosecution and opinion process, based on his belief that lawyers can learn a great deal from their clients. David takes on the role of student when working with clients, absorbing everything that they can teach him about their work and industry so he can better describe their inventions in patent applications and obtain the broadest possible protection. He also relishes the enthusiasm clients bring to their work, saying it is what makes his work so enjoyable. David takes a similar approach to working with patent examiners. He sees patent prosecutions as a win-win negotiation, not as an all-out battle with the US Patent and Trademark Office. He is willing to work for as long as it takes with patent examiners to gain the broadest possible protection for his clients. David has authored numerous scholarly articles in the emerging field of computer law. He also teaches on the subject as an adjunct professor at University of Detroit-Mercy Law School through the Intellectual Property Law Institute. David believes that these endeavors make him a better lawyer because they ensure that he stays at the cutting edge in intellectual property. David is committed to the idea that lawyers should give back to their communities and is active in numerous professional and civic organizations.

Mr. Runk provides legal services to clients in all of the intellectual property (IP) fields which include patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights. The services primarily encompass originating intellectual property portfolios, managing those portfolios, and enforcing a client's IP against infringers. His IP services also include reviewing the IP rights of others that may pose some level of risk to a client's business plans and providing advice about the risks. Mr. Runk works in state courts, in U.S. federal courts, and teams up with foreign attorneys for international cases. Mr. Runk's primary focus is on the fields of electrical, mechanical, signal processing, control systems, information management and processing systems, computer hardware, and software technologies. Mr. Runk has worked with a wide range of technologies such as complex medical apparatus for diabetes control, catheters for atrial mapping and ablation, valve systems, lighting systems for businesses, and inventory control systems using radio frequency identification. Mr. Runk provides IP services to businesses of all sizes from start-up companies to multi-billion dollar companies, and to individuals. Mr. Runk is a registered patent attorney at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and as such is licensed to represent clients in all aspects of patents and trademarks at the USPTO. Mr. Runk has prepared, negotiated, and finalized many intellectual property licenses and settlement agreements. Additionally, Mr. Runk has also performed the due diligence necessary in IP portfolio acquisition or divestiture which includes confirming clear title, maintenance issues, trademark use issues, and many other issues. Mr. Runk has also written and negotiated the intellectual property provisions for the contracts in acquisitions and divestitures. Many of these contracts involve complex contractual provisions for ownership and contingencies. Mr. Runk has also been actively engaged in intellectual property litigation including trial to a jury. In foreign countries, Mr. Runk has managed patent and trademark oppositions in Europe and in Asian countries.